Abstract:
The red-crowned crane (Grus japonensis) is a rare and endangered species that lives in wetland habitats. In this study, we first compared crane habitat selection in December, 2013 and January, 2014 using the Neu method in the Yancheng National Reserve (YNR). We then explored the relative importance of habitats (plot, landscape) and spatial factors on red-crowned crane abundance at multiple scales using regression models and variation partitioning approaches. Our results indicated that seepweed (Suaeda salsa) tidal flats and reed ponds were the favored habitats by cranes in December and January, respectively. The variation partitioning results indicated that plot and landscape factors were the determining factors of crane abundance in December, but plot features were more important in January. Furthermore, the pure and total effects of plot factors, and the combined effects of plot, landscape and spatial factors, increased significantly from December to January. At plot scale, vegetation coverage and road distance were the crucial variables that determine crane abundance in both months. At landscape scale, percentage of reed ponds and percentage of seepweed tidal flats showed a positive independent effect on crane abundance in both months. Percentage of paddy fields was also a significant variable in December, whereas percentage of fishponds was in January. Our study indicated that crane habitat selection and the determining factors changed over time due to food availability and human disturbance (e.g., reed pond and fishpond harvests). Our results encourage the application of partitioning methods in avian ecology because they provide a more in-depth understanding of the importance of different explanatory variables over traditional regression methods. Efforts should be made to strengthen wetland restoration and improve the mitigation of human disturbance in the YNR.
Page(s):
349-357
DOI:
DOI not available
Published:
Journal: Pakistan Journal of Zoology, Volume: 48, Issue: 2, Year: 2016