School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Anhui University, No.111, Jiulong Road, 230601, Hefei, China; Institute of Physical Science and Information Technology, Anhui University, No.111, Jiulong Road, 230601, Hefei, China.
School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Anhui University, No.111, Jiulong Road, 230601, Hefei, China.
J Environ Manage. 2019 Nov 1;249:109251. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2019.07.022. Epub 2019 Aug 8.
Quantifying the relationship between hydrological regime and habitat availability is the first step to predict potential impacts of water engineering projects on waterbirds, particularly in periodically flooded wetlands. The proposed Yangtze-to-Huaihe Water Diversion Project (YHWD) cuts through Caizi Lake, which is of international importance for wintering waterbirds. In order to explore the potential impacts of the project on habitat availability for the wintering waterbirds, we first built linear models to fit relationships between land cover patterns and water level dynamics in the lake, and then used generalized linear mixed models to test effects of habitat variables (water area, grassland area and mudflat area) on bird abundances of different functional groups. The avian habitat use differed among guilds, and was correlated with the land cover pattern, which was strongly dependent on seasonal water level fluctuations. Following water recession in autumn, the exposure of riparian habitats was more prominent in the eastern part of the lake, where the channel of the proposed YHWD project is located. This part of the lake is also where we located most of the important bird areas. Compared to the current situation, 54.3% of the grassland and 60.5% of the mudflats are predicted to be lost during winter due to the projected water level rise, resulting in reduced habitat availability for grass foragers, invertebrate eaters and tuber feeders. In order to mitigate potential impacts of the YHWD project, we suggest habitat compensations by construction of artificial habitats, and maintenance of water level regime at the whole lake by restoring similarity in water level fluctuations between Xizi Lake and Caizi Lake.
量化水文格局与栖息地可利用性之间的关系是预测水工程对水鸟潜在影响的第一步，尤其是在周期性洪泛湿地中。拟议的“引江济淮”工程将穿过具有国际重要性的越冬水鸟栖息地——曹子湖。为了探讨该工程对越冬水鸟栖息地可利用性的潜在影响，我们首先构建了线性模型来拟合湖泊土地覆盖格局与水位动态之间的关系，然后使用广义线性混合模型来检验栖息地变量（水域面积、草地面积和泥滩面积）对不同功能群鸟类数量的影响。鸟类栖息地的利用因鸟类种团而异，且与土地覆盖格局有关，而土地覆盖格局又强烈依赖于季节性水位波动。秋季水位下降后，湖滨栖息地的暴露程度在湖泊东部更为明显，而拟建的“引江济淮”工程的河道就在这一区域。这部分湖泊也是我们确定的大部分重要鸟类区域的所在地。与现状相比，预计在冬季，由于预计的水位上升，54.3%的草地和 60.5%的泥滩将消失，这将导致草食性觅食者、食虫者和块茎食者的栖息地可利用性减少。为了减轻“引江济淮”工程的潜在影响，我们建议通过建造人工栖息地来进行栖息地补偿，并通过恢复西子湖和曹子湖之间水位波动的相似性来维持整个湖泊的水位。
