He Ke, Zhu Zhen Xian, Jin Tinghao, Feng Jun Yan, Zhou Xilai, Wei Lingling, Liu Baoquan
College of Animal Science and Technology College of Veterinary Medicine, Zhejiang Agriculture and Forestry University, Key Laboratory of Applied Technology on Green-Eco-Healthy Animal Husbandry of Zhejiang Province Hangzhou China.
Zhejiang Forest Resource Monitoring Center Hangzhou Zhejiang China.
Ecol Evol. 2025 Aug 8;15(8):e71890. doi: 10.1002/ece3.71890. eCollection 2025 Aug.
To effectively establish a conservation network for migratory bird flyways in China, understanding the protection status of the East Asian-Australasian Flyway (EAAF) along China's coastal regions is a prerequisite. Using satellite tracking data from 13 Whimbrels () in Hangzhou Bay (2018-2023), we found (1) After traversing the coastal and the Northeast Plain in China, the Whimbrels captured in Hangzhou Bay diverged into two distinct migration routes at 45°N-50° N. There was no difference in migration parameters between individuals on different routes, except for the speed of southward migration ( < 0.05). (2) The Hangzhou Bay tracked individuals exhibited strong fidelity to this wetland and had a high degree of overlap in the concentrated activity zones there. (3) Combined with other published studies, we evaluated the protection gaps, revealing 73.1% (38 of 52) stopover sites fall within protected areas (primarily national-level), but with stark regional disparities: inland regions (Inner Mongolia and Northeast China) showed lower protection coverage than coastal zones (East Sea-South Sea and the Bohai Sea-Yellow Sea of China). These integrated findings demonstrate that while China's coastal protected areas effectively cover most key Whimbrel habitats, critical inland stopovers remain unprotected. We recommend a need for greater conservation attention in inland regions. The findings of this study provide a theoretical foundation for effectively establishing a migratory bird flyway conservation network in China.
为有效建立中国候鸟迁徙路线保护网络，了解中国沿海地区东亚-澳大利西亚迁徙路线（EAAF）的保护状况是前提条件。利用杭州湾13只斑尾塍鹬（2018 - 2023年）的卫星跟踪数据，我们发现：（1）在穿越中国沿海和东北平原后，在杭州湾捕获的斑尾塍鹬在北纬45°-50°处分成两条不同的迁徙路线。除了向南迁徙的速度外（<0.05），不同路线个体之间的迁徙参数没有差异。（2）在杭州湾跟踪的个体对这片湿地表现出强烈的忠诚度，并且在那里的集中活动区域有高度重叠。（3）结合其他已发表的研究，我们评估了保护差距，发现73.1%（52个中的38个）中途停歇地位于保护区内（主要是国家级），但存在明显的区域差异：内陆地区（内蒙古和中国东北）的保护覆盖率低于沿海地区（中国东海-南海和渤海-黄海）。这些综合研究结果表明，虽然中国沿海保护区有效地覆盖了大多数关键的斑尾塍鹬栖息地，但重要的内陆中途停歇地仍未得到保护。我们建议需要更加关注内陆地区的保护。本研究结果为在中国有效建立候鸟迁徙路线保护网络提供了理论基础。
