Conservation planning following reclamation of intertidal areas throughout the Yellow and Bohai Seas, China

Abstract

Tidal flats throughout the Yellow and Bohai Seas provide essential habitat for migrating shorebirds along the East Asian-Australasian Flyway. Land reclamation threatens this habitat. Using bird-sighting data and environmental variables, we identify areas appropriate for prioritized protection for 46 shorebird species, using a MaxEnt species distribution model and Zonation protection planning software. We also assess changes in habitat status and conservation importance of tidal flats along the Rudong and Dongtai coasts, Jiangsu Province, a significant shorebird biodiversity area recently inscribed as a World Heritage site. A priority area of 4523 km2, containing more saltpan and aquaculture areas than tidal flats, and more than 90% of all tidal flat areas in the priority area, is identified, of which only 12.05% is currently protected within existing National Nature Reserves. Tidal flats along the Rudong and Dongtai coasts have decreased in area from 2000 to 2015, and particularly from 2010 to 2015 at a rate nine times that for 2000–2010. An irreplaceability index for coastal habitat for Xiaoyangkou, Rudong county, increased from 2012 to 2015, signaling a need for urgent habitat management and protection, such as afforded by establishing new nature reserves. Effective management and restoration of saltpan and aquaculture habitat in Bohai and Laizhou bays is also necessary.