A farmland biodiversity strategy is needed for China

Li, Li; Hu, Ruocheng; Huang, Jikun; Bürgi, Matthias; Zhu, Zijue; Zhong, Jia; Lü, Zhi

doi:10.1038/s41559-020-1161-2

Cited by 54 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…To be noticed, our results highlights the need of new studies, perhaps with the same methodology, taking into account bird ages, flock size, breeding, or health status (parasite). More than 220 farmland bird species in China rely on cultivated land to survive during the winter (Li et al, 2020), however, the increase of agricultural intensity and farmland fragmentation inevitably results in anthropogenic interference with the changes in food webs within farmland habitats, which may pose threats to the farmland species life cycles. Ultimately the host health could be influenced by the diet-induced gut microbiota changes.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Sex and Diet on Gut Microbiota of Farmland-Dependent Wintering Birds

et al. 2020

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Gut microbiota plays an important role for bird biological and ecological properties, and sex and diet may be important intrinsic and extrinsic factors influencing gut microbial communities. However, sex difference of gut microbiota has been rarely investigated in free-living birds, and it remains unclear how sex and diet interactively affect avian gut microbiota composition and diversity, particularly under natural conditions. Here we used non-invasive molecular sexing technique to sex the fecal samples collected from two wintering sites of Great Bustard, which is the most sexually dimorphic among birds, as well as a typical farmland-dependent wintering bird. High-throughput sequencing of 16S was applied to identify the gut microbiota communities for both sexes under two diets (wheat_corn and rice_peanut). The results showed that 9.74% of common microbiota taxa was shared among four groups (sex vs. diet), revealing the conservatism of gut microbiota. Microbiota diversity, composition and abundance varied on different diets for male and female Great Bustards, suggesting that the gut microbiota was interactively influenced by both sex and diet. Under the wheat_corn diet, females had higher abundances of the phylum Verrucomicrobia than males, but lower Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes compared to males; meanwhile, the microbiota diversity and evenness were higher for males than females. In contrast, under the rice_peanut diet, females were more colonized by the phylum Firmicutes than males, but less by the phylum Bacteroidetes; while males had lower microbiota diversity and evenness than females. This study investigated the impacts of sex and diet on microbiota of Great Bustards, and highlights the need of new studies, perhaps with the same methodology, taking into account bird ages, flock size, breeding or health status, which will contribute to the understanding of ecology and conservation of this vulnerable species.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Sex and Diet on Gut Microbiota of Farmland-Dependent Wintering Birds

et al. 2020

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“…Because eastern China is an important part of the East Asian—Australasian Flyway (EAAF), many species such as geese and shorebirds breed in northern China or Russia, migrate past eastern China [ 48 ], or winter in southern China [ 49 ]. If only breeding ranges are considered, the key resting and wintering habitats for these birds to survive may be omitted from the conservation plan, and these potentially missing habitats may face serious threats [ 39 , 50 , 51 ]. As a reference, we distinguished the localities and mapped the breeding ranges of migratory bird species in China for comparison with other similar research results (for details, see S1 File & S2 Table ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Shifts in bird ranges and conservation priorities in China under climate change

Gu²,

Luo

et al. 2020

PLoS ONE

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Climate change is one of the most significant causes of species range shift and extinction. Based on a citizen science dataset of birds in China, the Bird Report, we developed a highresolution map of bird species richness in China, and simulated the range shifts and area changes of the 1,042 birds through the year 2070 using three different General Circulation Models and two different Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs, including RCP 2.6 and RCP 8.5). It was found that 241-244 (under different scenarios) bird species would lose a portion of their distribution ranges; and that most species in China would move to either higher elevations or northward. The other 798-801 species would experience range expansion. Compared to resident species (n = 516), migratory birds (n = 526) may undergo more limited range expansion but a longer range shift distance on average. The species diversity of birds will considerably increase in areas higher than 1,500 m in elevation under both RCPs. Conservation priorities with higher species richness were also identified using the Zonation model. The existing national nature reserves are not sufficient for protecting important bird habitats, especially after range shifts. Significant gaps in protected areas were observed in the northern Xinjiang, southern Tibet, Greater Khingan, Sanjiang Plain, Songnen Plain, northern Bohai Rim, and southeastern coastline areas. Many of these areas are characterized by high human populations and intensive development, and establishing sizable protected areas has become difficult. Inclusive conservation mechanisms that include restoring habitats in urban parks and sharing habitats in farmland areas, may be a feasible solution.

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“…This has been attributed to persistent loss of tidal flat in Bohai Bay (Yang et al, 2011). Although natural reserves along China's coasts have been created to both manage and protect habitat, large conservation gaps exist because some important artificial wetlands afforded no protection (Choi et al, 2019; Li et al, 2020).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Waterbird habitat loss: fringes of the Yellow and Bohai Seas along the East Asian–Australasian Flyway

Duan

Xia

et al. 2021

Land Degrad Dev

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Natural wetlands along the coasts of the Yellow and Bohai Seas provide key stopover sites for migratory waterbirds. However, these wetlands are facing land loss. Understanding how natural wetland loss influences habitat is important for habitat management. We used species distribution models to report changes in area of suitable habitat and analysed the effects of natural wetland loss on habitat for 80 waterbird species of four functional categories (shorebirds, ducks, herons, gulls) between 2000 and 2015 beside the Yellow and Bohai Seas. Between 2000 and 2015, 1794.8 km 2 (29.27%) of coastal wetland was lost to development, most of which were tidal flats that were lost by conversion into aquaculture and salt pan habitat or land for construction. Consequently, habitat for 73 of these 80 species has decreased in area over this time period. Generally, the proportional decline in habitat suitable for duck species was less than that for shorebirds, and the proportional decline in suitable habitat was not significantly different between National Protected Species and Non-National Protected Species. The proportional loss of tidal flats that formerly represented suitable habitat was also significantly higher for shorebirds, herons and gulls than for ducks. Because more duck species exploit aquaculture and salt pan habitat that was converted from tidal flats habitats, such conversion of tidal flats poses a greater threat to shorebirds, herons and gulls than to ducks. Preventing further reclamation of tidal flats and managing artificial wetlands are priorities for waterbird conservation.

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A farmland biodiversity strategy is needed for China

Cited by 54 publications

References 7 publications

Effects of Sex and Diet on Gut Microbiota of Farmland-Dependent Wintering Birds

Effects of Sex and Diet on Gut Microbiota of Farmland-Dependent Wintering Birds

Shifts in bird ranges and conservation priorities in China under climate change

Waterbird habitat loss: fringes of the Yellow and Bohai Seas along the East Asian–Australasian Flyway

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