Anticipating the effects of climate warming and natural habitat conversion on waterbird communities to address protection gaps

Verniest, Fabien; Viol, Isabelle Le; Julliard, Romain; Dami, Laura; Guelmami, Anis; Suet, Marie; Abdou, Wed; Azafzaf, Hichem; Bendjedda, Nadjiba; Bino, Taulant; Borg, John J.; Božič, Luka; Dakki, Mohamed; Hamoumi, Rhimou El; Encarnação, Vítor; Erciyas-Yavuz, Kiraz; Etayeb, Khaled; Georgiev, Valeri; Hamada, Ayman; Hatzofe, Ohad; Ieronymidou, Christina; Langendoen, Tom; Mikuška, Tibor; Molina, Blas; Moniz, Filipe; Moussy, Caroline; Ouassou, Asmaâ; Petkov, Nicky; Portolou, Danae; Qaneer, Tareq; Sayoud, Samir; Šćiban, Marko; Topić, Goran; Uzunova, Danka; Vine, Gal; Vizi, Andrej; Xeka, Erald; Zenatello, Marco; Gaget, Élie; Galewski, Thomas

doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2023.109939

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 51 publications

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“…Gap analysis is a method for determining the suitability of existing biodiversity conservation systems and identifying unprotected or under-protected biodiversity components [23]. It has been widely used for the conservation of species diversity in plants [24], birds [25], amphibians [26], and endangered species [27], along with playing an important role in single species conservation [28]. We employed the method to create distribution maps of important waterbird habitats and of protected areas in Anhui Province.…”

Section: Protection Gap Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of Waterbird Habitat Importance and Identification of Conservation Gaps in Anhui Province

Liu,

Ji,

Zhou

2024

Animals

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Wetlands are among the most important habitats of highly wetland-dependent waterbirds but are subject to ongoing habitat loss and degradation owing to intensified anthropogenic activities. The scarcity of human and natural resources makes effective habitat protection an important concern. Here, we aimed to investigate waterbird habitat protection methods for Anhui Province, China, a critical stopover and wintering area on the East Asian-Australasian Flyway that features rich wetland resources subject to significant habitat loss and degradation. We evaluated the status and importance of 306 wintering waterbird habitats and identified the key environmental influences and current protection gaps using the entropy weights method and generalized additive modeling. We found 73 important habitats for waterbirds in Anhui Province, which were classified into levels of importance (descending from I to V) according to the natural discontinuity method. Level I and Level II habitats were mainly located in the Yangtze River floodplain and Level IV habitats in the Huaihe River floodplain. The gap analysis showed that 42 important waterbird habitats had protection gaps, accounting for 57.53% of the total area. Waterbird habitat importance was significantly correlated with elevation, normalized vegetation index, lake area, and lake circumference but not with distance from roads or population density. The results of this study provide scientific information for waterbird habitat conservation planning, which is crucial for maintaining wetland ecosystem functions.

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Section: Protection Gap Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of Waterbird Habitat Importance and Identification of Conservation Gaps in Anhui Province

Liu,

Ji,

Zhou

2024

Animals

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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Exposure of wetlands important for nonbreeding waterbirds to sea‐level rise in the Mediterranean

Verniest,

Galewski,

Boutron

et al. 2024

Conservation Biology

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Sea‐level rise (SLR) is expected to cause major changes to coastal wetlands, which are among the world's most vulnerable ecosystems and are critical for nonbreeding waterbirds. Because strategies for adaptation to SLR, such as nature‐based solutions and designation of protected areas, can locally reduce the negative effects of coastal flooding under SLR on coastal wetlands, it is crucial to prioritize adaptation efforts, especially for wetlands of international importance for biodiversity. We assessed the exposure of coastal wetlands important for nonbreeding waterbirds to projected SLR along the Mediterranean coasts of 8 countries by modeling future coastal flooding under 7 scenarios of SLR by 2100 (from 44‐ to 161‐cm rise) with a static inundation approach. Exposure to coastal flooding under future SLR was assessed for 938 Mediterranean coastal sites (≤30 km from the coastline) where 145 species of nonbreeding birds were monitored as part of the International Waterbird Census and for which the monitoring area was delineated by a polygon (64.3% of the coastal sites monitored in the Mediterranean region). Thirty‐four percent of sites were threatened by future SLR, even under the most optimistic scenarios. Protected study sites and study sites of international importance for waterbirds were, respectively, 1.5 and 2 times more exposed to SLR than the other sites under the most optimistic scenario. Accordingly, we advocate for the development of a prioritization scheme to be applied to these wetlands for the implementation of strategies for adaptation to SLR to anticipate the effects of coastal flooding. Our study provides major guidance for conservation planning under global change in several countries of the Mediterranean region.

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Anticipating the effects of climate warming and natural habitat conversion on waterbird communities to address protection gaps

Cited by 2 publications

References 51 publications

Assessment of Waterbird Habitat Importance and Identification of Conservation Gaps in Anhui Province

Assessment of Waterbird Habitat Importance and Identification of Conservation Gaps in Anhui Province

Exposure of wetlands important for nonbreeding waterbirds to sea‐level rise in the Mediterranean

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