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Diversity
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Advanced Research on Waterbirds and Wetland Conservation
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Advanced Research on Waterbirds and Wetland Conservation

A special issue of Diversity (ISSN 1424-2818). This special issue belongs to the section "Animal Diversity".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 July 2024) | Viewed by 4569

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Iris Charalambidou

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Life and Health Sciences, School of Sciences and Engineering, University of Nicosia, CY-1700 Nicosia, Cyprus
Interests: biodiversity conservation; wetland birds; avian ecology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Wetlands represent important natural capital and provide essential ecological services. Over 50% of the planet’s wetlands are estimated to have been lost in the past century. The remaining wetlands are being degraded to varying degrees due to adverse effects from human activities, mainly habitat loss due to land use changes, pollution, biological invasions, water resource development, and climate change.

The loss and degradation of wetlands worldwide has negatively affected waterbirds, which depend on wetland habitats. Thus, waterbirds are key biological indicators for assessing the quality and importance of wetlands. Moreover, waterbirds play key functional roles, supporting a variety of ecological services, although these roles are often overlooked. In view of the serious situation of the rapid decrease in waterbird diversity, waterbird conservation has received increasing attention worldwide. How to provide high-quality habitats for waterbirds through effective management is a critical issue in waterbird conservation.

Conservation planners are struggling to adequately respond to changing environmental conditions to ensure the long-term persistence of these vital habitats. Importantly, wetlands are key habitats, physically and socially connected with processes occurring over a much wider territory. Overall, the practice of wetland management requires integrated knowledge of the entire wetland ecosystem, and an ecosystem-based approach is needed to improve the quality of managed wetlands while considering multiple spatial scales and temporal variability.

This Special Issue will focus on the interplay between wetlands, waterbirds, and human activities, and propose recommendations for wetland and waterbird conservation.

Dr. Iris Charalambidou
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Diversity is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2100 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

• conservation threats
• conservation management
• population dynamics
• population genetics
• habitat suitability
• ecological functions
• invasion processes
• ecosystem services

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

12 pages, 2076 KiB  
Article
Alert and Flight Initiation Distances of the Coot in Response to Drones
by Zhenguang Lu, Jiarong Li, Zengrui Tian, Jiaojiao Wang and Jianhua Hou
Diversity 2024, 16(9), 518; https://doi.org/10.3390/d16090518 - 29 Aug 2024
Viewed by 590
Abstract
Alert and flight initiation distances are important elements of bird behavioral responses and indicators of their adaptation to external disturbances; therefore, they provide an important basis for bird conservation. With continual rapid advancements in drone technology, the use of drones in bird field [...] Read more.
Alert and flight initiation distances are important elements of bird behavioral responses and indicators of their adaptation to external disturbances; therefore, they provide an important basis for bird conservation. With continual rapid advancements in drone technology, the use of drones in bird field surveys is becoming increasingly important. However, the disturbance impact of drones on birds remains controversial and needs further assessment. This study measured the distances at which coots (Fulica atra) tolerated drones in the Baiyangdian wetland, Northern China, over 42 days from August to November 2023 and at the end of July 2024. The results show the maximum alert distance (AD) and maximum flight initiation distance (FID) of the coot to be 44 m and 35 m, respectively. The coots showed no signs of disturbance when the drones flew at an altitude of 50 m. The AD of the coot showed a significant relationship with whether it saw the drones in advance, environmental conditions, and the drone’s behavior before it approached, whereas the FID was only significantly affected by whether the coot saw the drones in advance. The sight of drones in advance considerably increased the AD and FID. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Research on Waterbirds and Wetland Conservation)
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12 pages, 8662 KiB  
Article
Advances in Scale Assessment of Seabird Bycatch: A New Methodological Framework
by Dominik Marchowski
Diversity 2023, 15(7), 808; https://doi.org/10.3390/d15070808 - 26 Jun 2023
Viewed by 1081
Abstract
This paper presents a methodology for indirectly estimating the scale of seabird bycatch using existing data. The study focuses on five key species of ducks that winter in the Polish waters of the Baltic Sea and are highly susceptible to bycatch: Long-tailed Duck, [...] Read more.
This paper presents a methodology for indirectly estimating the scale of seabird bycatch using existing data. The study focuses on five key species of ducks that winter in the Polish waters of the Baltic Sea and are highly susceptible to bycatch: Long-tailed Duck, Velvet Scoter, Common Scoter, Greater Scaup, and Tufted Duck. The evaluation units used are divided into the Bornholm (BS) and Gotland Subdivisions (GS) within the Polish Exclusive Economic Zone (PEEZ). The analysis acknowledges the lack of bycatch data for certain areas known to have high concentrations of diving birds and fishing activity. The population sizes of waterbirds were assessed using ship-based surveys and a distance sampling approach. Fishing effort data from the five winter seasons between 2015/2016 and 2019/2020 were analyzed. Bycatch rates were estimated based on surveys conducted in previous seasons, and threshold values for bycatch were established using the concept of “small numbers” defined in EU directives. The results show that within the GS of the PEEZ, the estimated average abundance of all diving waterbirds was 174,800 individuals, with an average annual bycatch of 7921 birds (4.5% of the total). The Velvet Scoter was the most abundant species, followed by the Long-tailed Duck. In the BS, the estimated average abundance of diving waterbirds was 624,600 individuals, with an average annual bycatch of 5056 birds (0.8% of the total). The Long-tailed Duck was the most numerous species, followed by the Velvet Scoter. Acceptable bycatch thresholds were exceeded for all species in both subdivisions despite a much smaller scale of bycatch in the BS. The findings highlight the need for effective management and conservation measures to address the high mortality of seabirds due to bycatch. The methodology presented in this study offers a valuable approach for estimating bycatch scale and can support efforts to minimize the impact on seabird populations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Research on Waterbirds and Wetland Conservation)
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16 pages, 2493 KiB  
Article
Movement and Genomic Methods Reveal Mechanisms Promoting Connectivity in a Declining Shorebird: The Lesser Yellowlegs
by Katherine Christie, Robert E. Wilson, James A. Johnson, Christian Friis, Christopher M. Harwood, Laura A. McDuffie, Erica Nol and Sarah A. Sonsthagen
Diversity 2023, 15(5), 595; https://doi.org/10.3390/d15050595 - 26 Apr 2023
Viewed by 2226
Abstract
Integrating tracking technology and molecular approaches provides a comprehensive picture of contemporary and evolutionary mechanisms promoting connectivity. We used mitochondrial DNA and double digest restriction-site associated DNA (ddRAD) sequencing combined with satellite telemetry to investigate the connectivity of geographically disparate breeding populations of [...] Read more.
Integrating tracking technology and molecular approaches provides a comprehensive picture of contemporary and evolutionary mechanisms promoting connectivity. We used mitochondrial DNA and double digest restriction-site associated DNA (ddRAD) sequencing combined with satellite telemetry to investigate the connectivity of geographically disparate breeding populations of a declining boreal shorebird, the lesser yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes). We were able to track 33 individuals on their round-trip migrations to Central and South America and back to the boreal wetlands of North America. Nearly all (93%) adults captured on the breeding grounds returned to within 5 km of the original capture site, with a median dispersal distance of 629 m. While our telemetry data revealed limited breeding dispersal in adults, genetic data uncovered significant interconnectedness across the species’ range. Very little genetic structure was estimated at ddRAD autosomal (ΦST = 0.001), Z-linked (ΦST = 0.001), and mtDNA loci (ΦST = 0.020), and maximum likelihood-based clustering methods placed all individuals in a single cluster regardless of capture location, indicating the species is panmictic. Our data indicate that large-scale juvenile dispersal is the main mechanism maintaining connectivity in this species, resulting in the absence of genomic structure. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Research on Waterbirds and Wetland Conservation)
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