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Changes in Water Birds Habitat Suitability Following Wetland Restoration in the Yellow River Delta, China
Author(s) -
Hua Yanyan,
Cui Baoshan,
He Wenjie
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
clean – soil, air, water
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.444
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1863-0669
pISSN - 1863-0650
DOI - 10.1002/clen.201200064
Subject(s) - wetland , habitat , river delta , delta , vegetation (pathology) , restoration ecology , china , environmental science , geography , ecology , hydrology (agriculture) , water resource management , biology , geology , medicine , geotechnical engineering , archaeology , pathology , engineering , aerospace engineering
It has been 10 years since the 2002 implementation of a wetland restoration project in the Yellow River Delta, China. The project mainly aimed to improve natural habitat for rare birds by modifying hydrological processes. Integrated multi‐criteria evaluation methods and cartographic modeling based on long‐term field monitoring and surveying were used to determine habitat suitability for the critical bird species that belong to five orders in the study area. Results showed that the habitat suitability index ( E ) increased in the first 6 years but declined recently as vegetation coverage increased. Future wetland restoration efforts should consider the influence of vegetation coverage on the development of potential habitats. The results of this study will be of value in further restoration designs in the Yellow River Delta and other similar wetlands.