Understanding retail dynamics of a regionally important domestic bird market in Guangzhou, China

Abstract

The prevailing methodology of noncontinuous wildlife market surveys contributes little to our understanding of the spatiotemporal variations of markets and their supply. Here, we investigate trends in bird trade in a large regional domestic market. Near-continuous monthly surveys at a pet market in Guangzhou, China discovered over 95,000 individuals of 147 species between 2011 and 2013. We analyzed optimal survey frequency, finding that autumn is the best season to detect maximal species diversity. In a mixed-effects model, we found that species-specific purposes for trade controls the occurrence of species across shops in a market. A buffer analysis showed that 13 of the 15 most abundant species are distributed within 200 km of the market. However, hotspots of range overlap for wild-caught, native species were found at great distances from the market within China and along China's borders. Identifying the location of theoretical trapping bottlenecks (areas where trapping levels are high) from this market data can help identify regions (e.g., southwest China) that are affected by trade, where local bird populations may be experiencing residual impacts from harvesting. Our results provide insights to improve methodologies for monitoring wildlife markets and identify priority regions for population surveys of in-demand wild bird species.