Habitat Suitability Dynamics of Yellow River Delta Nature Reserves for Rare Waterbirds

Hongli Wang (), Yunyi Chi, Yujie Zhong and Qiang Wang ()
Additional contact information
Hongli Wang: School of Ecological and Environmental Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China
Yunyi Chi: School of Ecological and Environmental Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China
Yujie Zhong: School of Ecological and Environmental Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China
Qiang Wang: School of Ecological and Environmental Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 12, 1-30

Abstract: Coastal wetland degradation continues to threaten the stability and ecological function of rare waterbird habitats, highlighting the need for a multi-species, long-term habitat assessment framework. This study examines the YRDNR using an integrated approach that combines MaxEnt and HSI models, high-resolution Land Use/Land Cover (LULC) data, and Fuzzy Comprehensive Evaluation to assess habitat dynamics for five rare waterbird species from 2005 to 2024. The key findings include the following: (1) The total wetland area first declined, then increased, with natural wetlands decreasing and artificial wetlands expanding. (2) Land Use/Land Cover (LULC) emerged as the primary factor influencing habitat suitability, with species-specific environmental responses. (3) Habitats for Ciconia boyciana , Larus saundersi , Grus japonensis , and Numenius madagascariensis declined and then recovered, while the Cygnus olor ’s habitat steadily expanded. Habitat fragmentation increased for Larus saundersi and Numenius madagascariensis , while patch size and connectivity improved for Ciconia boyciana , Grus japonensis, and Cygnus olor . (4) Overall, the suitable habitat area of rare waterbird increased, accompanied by a structural shift from natural to artificial wetlands. The proposed framework supports the long-term monitoring and precise management of coastal wetlands, offering valuable insights for global waterbird conservation and sustainable wetland governance.

Keywords: Yellow River Delta Nature Reserve; temporal habitat evaluation; MaxEnt; habitat suitability index (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/12/5326/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/12/5326/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:12:p:5326-:d:1675020

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().