Bird Strike Risk Assessment and Prevention: A Case Study at Lanzhou Zhongchuan International Airport
CSTR:
Author:
Affiliation:

1.School of Life Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000; 2.Key Laboratory of Biomonitoring and Bioremediation for Environment Pollution, Gansu Province, Lanzhou 730000; 3.Lanzhou Zhongchuan International Airport, Lanzhou 730030; 4. Cuiying Honors College, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China

Clc Number:

Fund Project:

  • Article
  • |
  • Figures
  • |
  • Metrics
  • |
  • Reference
  • |
  • Related
  • |
  • Cited by
  • |
  • Materials
  • |
  • Comments
    Abstract:

    [Objectives] Bird strike not only causes serious casualties and economic losses but also greatly affects the population of birds. Bird surveys and bird strike risk assessment are of great significance for bird strike prevention and management at airports. Seasonal activities of birds, such as migration and breeding, can lead to significant changes in bird communities, resulting in time variations of high-risk bird species at airports. However, most studies only assess bird strike risks based on year-round avian diversity data, ignoring seasonal variations, which is not conducive to providing scientific guidance for airport bird strike prevention and control. In this case, a year-long monthly survey was conducted at Lanzhou Zhongchuan International Airport, and a weighted additive model and a risk matrix model were used to assess the bird strike risk around the airport, with a view to pointing out the focus of bird strike prevention in different months and habitats and providing a theoretical basis for bird strike prevention at the airport. [Methods] A monthly survey of birds at Lanzhou Zhongchuan International Airport was conducted via sample line and point methods from March 2023 to February 2024. A total of 12 lines and 5 points were set up (Fig. 1), with each line or point surveyed twice a month in spring and autumn and once a month in winter and summer. The distance sampling method was employed to estimate the monthly density of high-risk species through the Distance package in R 4.3.1. A weighted additive model and a risk matrix model were adopted to assess bird strike risk at the airport each month (Table 1). A modified community similarity index named model similarity index was used to measure the similarity of the results of the two models. Data analyses were conducted in Excel 2023 and Origin 2021. [Results] There were 187 species of birds (including Columba livia domestica) distributed around Lanzhou Zhongchuan International Airport, belonging to 19 orders and 30 families (Electronic appendix 1). The highest number of species was recorded in April, with a total of 120 species, and the highest number of bird individuals was recorded in October, reaching 5 043. Forty-one bird species were identified as high-risk at least by one model at one month, with Accipitridae (12 species, 29.27%) being the most numerous in terms of taxonomy and resident birds (18 species, 19.51%) being the most numerous in terms of residence type (Electronic appendix 1). From a temporal perspective, the weighted additive model identified an average of 7.7 ± 1.8 high-risk bird species each month, with the highest number (11) in October and the lowest number (5) in July. The risk matrix model identified an average of 9.7 ± 3.8 high-risk bird species each month, with the highest number (18) in April and the lowest number (5) in July. The high-risk bird species identified by the two models were the most similar in March, with a model similarity index of 0.923, and the greatest difference occurred in December and January, with a model similarity index of 0.500. Generally, the bird species density was higher in winter and lower in summer (Electronic appendices 2﹣3). According to the temporal characteristics of the occurrence of high-risk bird species around Zhongchuan Airport, they can be categorized into the following four groups:bird species of focus throughout the year, bird species of focus during the breeding season, bird species of focus during the migratory season, and bird species of focus during winter, and precautions should be taken according to the time of their occurrence. In terms of habitat, both models identified the highest number of high-risk bird species in wetlands, with weighted additive model at 6.9 ± 1.9 and risk matrix model at 7.7 ± 3.1, followed by towns, with weighted additive model at 4.4 ± 1.5 and risk matrix model at 5.5 ± 2.6, while the numbers of high-risk bird species in the rest three habitats were similar (Table 2). On the basis of the habitat preferences of high-risk bird species around Zhongchuan Airport, they can be categorized into the following five groups:bird species of focus in wetland, bird species of focus in town, bird species of focus in desert grassland, bird species of focus in artificial forest, and bird species of focus in farmland, and precautions should be taken according to the habitats in which these high-risk bird species occur. [Conclusion] The number of high-risk bird species at the airport was the highest in April and October and the lowest in July. Wetlands had the highest bird strike risk, followed by towns, and the numbers of high-risk bird species in the other habitats were similar. Airport staff were supposed to target high-risk bird species in prevention of potential safety hazards based on their occurrence time and habitats.

    Reference
    Related
    Cited by
Get Citation

XIONG Neng, DI Wu-Jun, WANG Kai-Tao, YAN Dong, FAN Zhen, SHEN Zheng-Ru, ZHAO Wei. 2025. Bird Strike Risk Assessment and Prevention: A Case Study at Lanzhou Zhongchuan International Airport. Chinese Journal of Zoology, 60(5): 663-672.

Copy
Related Videos

Share
Article Metrics
  • Abstract:
  • PDF:
  • HTML:
  • Cited by:
History
  • Received:March 26,2024
  • Revised:
  • Adopted:
  • Online: October 21,2025
  • Published:
Article QR Code