Abstract:Chinese Grouse (Tetrastes sewerzowi) is an endemic bird distributed in the alpine coniferous forest in central and western China, and listed as first rank of national key protected wild animals. To investigate the spring territory behavior of the Chinese Grouse, we conducted decoy experiment at Lianhuashan Nature Reserve in Gansu Province of west China during April-May in 2012. We aimed to assess the differences of territority among individuals and in different periods of the breeding season, and analyzed the correlation between aggressiveness and territory quality. We found that the territory defense behavior can be divided into five levels according to the aggressiveness, including identification, alarm, chasing, confrontation and jumping combat. We also detected 4 types of alarm calls. According to the decoy expriment of 6 radioed males, we found male territory defense behavior varied significantly among individuals, and males were significantly more aggressive when not paired. The aggressiveness of males was related to the willow cover in their territories.

Abstract:The Black Grouse (Tetrao tetrix) is one of the class Ⅱnational protected birds in China, and its population is declining in recent years. To understand the difference of genetic variation among populations can provide basic knowledge for the conservation of endangered species, and help to develop management strategies. The genetic diversity of two Black Grouse (T.t.baikalensi) populations at Jagdaqi and Zhalantun, Daxinganling of northeast China were analyzed by the polymorphism of mtDNA D-loop sequences. 118 complete sequences were determined using DNA sequencing technology. 25 polymorphic sites, and 33 haplotypes were defined, of which 4 haplotypes were shared between two populations. The nucleotide diversity(π)of Black Grouse in Jagdaqi and Zhalantun populations were 0.279% and 0.191% respectively, with higher polymorphism in Jagdaqi population. The average number of nucleotide difference (K) and the nucleotide diversity(π)were 2.608 and 0.228% in integral population. There was gene exchange between the two populations(N_m=14.63), and their genetic divergence was not significant. The estimate of Tajima's D and Fu&Li's D didn't deviate significantly from the neutral selection hypothesis(P>0.1)for the two populations, suggesting that they might not have been large-scale population expansion process.

Abstract:A basic understanding of habitat selection is necessary for conservation of rare endemic birds. The Emei Shan Liocichla (Liocichla omeiensis) is a rare babbler endemic to the mountains of southwest China. During three winters from 2010 to 2013, we conducted investigations on winter habitat characteristics of Emei Shan Liocichla at the Emei Mountain in Sichuan Province, China with line transect and sampling methods. 26 transects were set up along roads, ridges and trails, with a total length of 70 km. We found that Emei Shan Liocichla mainly inhabited the edges of evergreen broadleaf forest, with the elevations ranged from 500 m to 1 300 m. We established a total of 47 used samples and 25 control samples, respectively. χ² test showed that Emei Shan Liocichla preferred the sunny slope. The tests of differences of the variables between the used and control samples indicated that Emei Shan Liocichla used the habitats with less and lower trees, denser shrubs, herbs, bamboo and lianes, larger total cover of vegetation, and closer to the forest edge in lower altitude. The results of step discriminant analysis showed that cover of shrubs, cover of herbs, cover of bamboo and distance to forest edge were critical factors to discriminate the used and control samples, with the resolution reliability of 87.5%. We suggested that winter habitat selection by Emei Shan Liocichla be mainly related to food and concealment.

Abstract:Clarifying the relationship between habitat use of waterbirds and environmental factors contributes to making conservation strategies. In order to understand the use of waterbirds on artificial wetlands and factors affecting their habitat use, we surveyed waterbird species and numbers and six environmental factors (including vegetation area, ratio of bare land area, water depth, topographic variation, habitat structural diversity, and human disturbance) in the wetland restoration area at Chongming Dongtan in the winter of 2012-2013. A total of 9 018 individuals in 24 species were recorded during 12 surveys. Spot-billed Duck (Anas poecilorhyncha) and Mallard (A.platyrhynchos) were the dominant species, accounting for 47.5 and 32.7% of total individual numbers, respectively. Rest behavior was recorded in 79.2% of total individuals, suggesting the wetland restoration area provided roosting sites for most waterbirds. Moreover, over 60% of individuals showed foraging behavior in Little Grebe (Tachybaptus ruficollis), Coot (Fulica atra), Common Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus), Eurasian Spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia), and Black-faced Spoonbill (P.minor). Stepwise regression analysis indicated the proportion of bare land area is the main factor affecting the species numbers of waterbirds; although waterfowl preferred plots with large topographic variation and low cover of vegetation, they stayed in plots with high proportion of bare land area. For the waders, they preferred to rest in plots with large topographic variation. To increase waterbird diversity in the wetland restoration area, we suggested to improve the food conditions for waterbirds, such as planting more submerged plants, and to increase the topographic variation and the proportion of bare land area.

Abstract:During two winters of December 2008 to January 2009 and December 2011 to January 2012, we studied the habitat selection of wintering shorebirds at Qinzhou Bay, in Guangxi of south China. We investigated the distribution of wintering shorebirds in different habitat types during the low tide and analyzed the reasons, in order to make effective measures to protect wintering birds and their habitats. Four kinds of habitat were divided in our study area, 1) Mangrove tidal flats, 2) Sandy beach, 3) Salt pan-aquacultural pond, 4) Farmland. In each habitat, 2 lines of 3 000 m were set up for the investgations, with the methods of line transect and fixed-point observation. During the censuses, we walked at a speed of 1-1.5 km/h, and counted the birds within the scope of 50 m on both sides with the help of 8 times binoculars. For data processing, 5 types of indicators were used to measure and analyze the shorebirds'distribution in each habitat, including species, species diversity index, species evenness index, species dominance index and similarity index. Totally 27 species were identified in Qinzhou Bay. The results showed that the shorebird composition and density were different in different weather conditions or different habitats during low tide. Shorebirds structure of different habitats in Qinzhou Bay varied with weather changes. For similarity comparison, during the sunny days, the salt pan-aquacultural pond and farmland had the highest shorebird similarity with the index of 0.92, and the mangrove tidal flats and sandy beach had the lowest shorebird similarity with the index of 0.49. During the wet and cold days, the sandy beach and salt pan-aquaculture pond had the highest shorebird similarity with the index of 0.79, and the mangrove tidal flats and sandy beach had the lowest similarity with the index of 0.52. Our results showed that human activities caused heavy disturbances to the shorebirds, and affected their habitat selection.

Abstract:From May 2007 to May 2013,we recorded the 54 died individuals of the Crested Ibis(Nipponia nippon)of a reintroduced population in Ningshan County, Shaanxi Province using banding, radiotelemetry and field surveys. Of the 54 died individuals, there were 26 nestlings, 8 juveniles and 20 released adults. Our results showed that the causes of death of the Crested Ibis included sibling competition, negligence of parents, maldevelopment, predation, shortage of food, flight strike, electrocution of power lines, bad weather, etc. According to the above-mentioned causes, we proposed some reasonable measures of protection and management recommendations.

Abstract:Knowledge of population size and migration ecology is essential for the conservation of endangered migrants. We studied the wintering population size and migration of Black Stork (Ciconia nigra) at the Napahai Wetland in Yunnan province during October-April 2004-2005, 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 by roosting sites counting. Our results showed that the Napahai Wetland was one of the most important wintering and stop-over sites of Black Stork in China. The average population size was 39.6, 128.6 and 181.8 in winters of 2004-2005, 2007-2008 and 2008-2009, respectively. The Napahai Wetland was also an important stop-over site for Black Stork populations migrated from Mongolia to India. The Black Storks normally migrated to Napahai in late October and left in mid-or late March. We suggested local government take effective measures to manage the wetland and protect Black Storks, including maintaining enough shallow water areas as their feeding sites and decreasing human disturbances.

Abstract:Ex-situ conservation implementation in in-situ conservation is the more effective protection way for endangered wildlife conservation. Since 1976, the Zhalong Nature Reserve has carried out ex-situ conservation works including incubation, training fly and releasement of the Red-crowned Crane (Grus japonensis) based on artificial breeding population. The results showed that from 1976 to now, hatchability of artificial breeding cranes was 77.41% (with the highest of 100% in 1981). Incubation survival number has increased, with the average of 27 individuals per year and the highest of 52 individuals in 2003. In the last decade, the incubation survival number has been kept around 30-50 individuals every year. The scale of training fly program also increased, recently, about 100-120 individuals were trained every year. Associated with the scale of training fly, the scale of releasement was also rising, about 8 individuals was released every year, and after 2009, it was maintained for more than 10 individuals The released Red-crowned Cranes were recorded in the Yancheng Nature Reserve in Jiangsu province, Yellow-river Delta Nature Reserve in Shandong province and Cheorwon near De-military Zone of South Korea. So far, Zhalong Nature Reserve has already got some success.

Abstract:Early ecological studies generally described the phenomenon during the field work. Since the modeling methods being introduced, researchers could establish a mathematical model to find out the general rules of the descriptive materials, and investigate the causes and their constraints. Due to the rapid development and popularization of computer technology, more and more animal ecology researchers try to use the modeling methods during their research. The evolution of animal behavior and its adaptation to the environment have always been the focus of ecological researches. According to different theoretical basis, a number of different modeling methods have been developed, including population genetic model, optimization model, game model, individual based model and phylogenetic comparative method. In this paper, we will review the above modeling methods and their applications in animal evolutionary biology.

Abstract:Acoustic signal is important on animal communion. Using vocalizations of animal to locate the position of individuals is a non-invasive method, and it is more feasible to monitor the wildlife that inhabit thick vegetation or mainly active at night. The possibility of acoustic location was tested in field with songs of passerine birds in this study. The field simulation experiment was conducted in the Dongzhai National Nature Reserve, Henan province during April and May in 2013. The experiment was conducted with 4 stereo recorders placed at the four corners of boundary of 4 square simulant territories of dense shrubs. The songs of 5 species of songbirds were played back at the sites that were selected randomly in the squares. With exploiting differences in sound arrival times at each recorder, we calculated the positions of acoustic sources, and compared them with the actual positions. The mean accuracy across five species was 1.89±0.99 m. We concluded that this system produced accurate location estimates based on multi-channel recordings of some types of acoustic signals. This study introduced a new technology and it might be useful to wildlife researchers.

Abstract:The use of suitable statistical models can help us to improve the understanding of species-habitat relationships. To identify the current most popular statistical methods, we surveyed the papers published in 10 SCI (Science Citation Index) journals aimed at habitat selection and journals of mainland China over the last 10 years (2003-2012). Of 30 methods used in 177 papers published in SCI journals, Logistic regression, Resource selection function, Compositional analysis, Generalized linear model, Multivariate analysis of variance, Euclidean distance-based approach, Generalized linear mixed model, Ecological-niche factor analysis, Individual-based modeling and Canonical correspondence analysis were most widely used ones. The Generalized linear model, Logistic regression, Multivariate analysis of variance and Euclidean distance-based approach were four methods very flexile when dealing with ecology data, however, the results might be lack of ecologically meanings. Resource selection function and Ecological-niche factor analysis provide us the concept which can lead to unified theory for the analysis and interpretation of habitat selection data. The Individual-based approach is a bottom-up approach which will never lead to theories at the system level. We surveyed 232 papers from mainland China, and found 19 methods were used, and the Principal component analysis, Mann-Whitney U test, Student's t test, Chi-square test, Discriminant analysis, Analysis of Variance, Vanderploeg and Scavia's first selection index, Vanderploeg and Scavia's second selection index, Logistic regression, Kruskal-Wallis H test and multiple regression analysis were most widely used.

Abstract:A study on seasonal dynamic of waterbird was conducted at Ruoergai marshes from March to December of 2010 to establish baseline information for avian influenza surveillance and wetland conservation and management. A total of 26 050 individuals of bird, belonging to 48 species, 12 families and 6 orders, were recorded. Of 21 408 were geese and ducks taking 82.2% of all the birds counted. Two peaks of bird abundance occurred in waterbird spring (March) and fall (October) migration period and most less waterbird recorded in November due to summer birds left and wintering birds had not come. Gahai was one of the important wetlands in Ruoergai marshes and held the most numerous water bird species and individuals. Satellite tracking on Bar-headed geese Anser indicus breeding at Qinghai Lake in western China indicated that the Ruoergai marshes was an important stopover site for the Bar-headed geese Anser indicus breeding at Qinghai Lake in western China on their migration way. There, they would met with waterbird wintering in Yunnan and Guizhou province. Therefore, it is important to monitor the avian influenza in the Ruoergai marshes.

Abstract:The number of wild bird species in China has been increasing steadily since last few years. This increase is partially as a consequence of recent findings of new species which have not previously been recorded in the Chinese territory. We hereby designated 43 new recorded bird species in China through reviewing literatures and field records, which were recently discovered after the publication "A Checklist on the Classification and Distribution of Birds in China" in 2005 and its second edition in 2011 or not included therein. Hereby, we review the taxonomy and status of distribution of these new species. We identified three geographically hotspots where those new records were from, including four provinces at the Chinese border (Xinjiang, Tibet, Yunnan and Guangxi), three Chinese coastal provinces (Hebei, Tianjin and Fujian) and Taiwan. The first region comprised new recorded species distributed in neighboring countries, these birds might breed, migrate or winter in China. The new recorded species in the latter region are mainly straggler birds, whose distribution ranges are distant from China.

Abstract:From November 2012 to March 2013, the family behavior of Siberian Crane (Grus leucogeranus) was studied by focused observation methods at Poyang Lake National Nature Reserve in Jiangxi Province. The results show that the adults spent 80.9% of time budget for feeding, and alert, preening, walking, and other activities accounted for 10.5%, 4.0%, 3.9%, 0.7% of activity duration respectively. In early wintering period, the daily activity rhythm of adult crane presented two peaks in the morning and in the afternoon of their walking behavior, with the trough at 10:30-12:30 in the noon. In late wintering period, apparent feeding trough presented at 13:00-14:00 while peaks of alert, walking and preening at the same time. In early wintering and interim period, preening peak presented at 14:00-15:00. There was not significant difference of time budget between male and female. Percentages of adult Siberian Cranes'alert (F=3.45,P=0.040), preening (F=6.99, P=0.001) and walking (F=7.79, P=0.001) behaviors had significant difference among three wintering periods. Nevertheless, the time budget of juvenile cranes was different with adult cranes. The time budget percentages of juveniles were feeding 66.2%, begging 14.0%, alert 3.7%, preening 5.4%, walking 3.6%, and others 7.1%. As to the frequency of feeding the juveniles, male adults decreased gradually, and the female adults increased from November to early December, then decreased since mid-December. Throughout the wintering period, the frequency of the adult males and females feeding the juveniles had no significant difference (P=0.340), however, in medium (P<0.001) and late wintering (P=0.005) periods, it showed significant difference. With the growth of the juveniles, their time budget changed greatly; the percentage of feeding was significantly increased, while their begging was reduced greatly and alert also increased. Our work showed the gender difference of the behaviour of the adult Siberian Cranes, and importance of adults feeding on the growth of juveniles.

Abstract:Fifteen nests of White-bellied Redstart (Hodgsonius phaenicuroides) been parasitized by Common Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) were found during the breeding season from 2009 to 2012 at Lianhuashan Nature Reserve, Gansu province, with a parasitism rate of 16.48%. To the human eye, 12 out of 13 eggs of Common Cuckoo were slightly blue in color and were different from the dark bluish green eggs of White-bellied Redstart, except one matched very well. The mean weight of Common Cuckoo eggs was 3.76±0.16 g, with an average long axis of 22.19±0.52 mm and an average short axis of 17.62±0.47 mm (n=10), respectively. There were significant differences in weight of eggs (t=11.208, df=38, P<0.001) and short axis of eggs (t=0.970, df=38, P<0.001) between Common Cuckoo and White-bellied Redstart. Our research showed White-bellied Redstart can recognize eggs of Common Cuckoo, 7 nests were confirmed deserted after being parasitized and 4 nests accepted while the remaining 4 were unknown.

Abstract:As a new record of bird in China, the White-capped Bunting (Emberiza stewarti), was found by the local birdwatchers and photographers on May 12^nd 2013. One male bird was seen with the Eurasian Linnets (Carduelis cannabina) at the countryside of Biaoertuokeyi town, Wuqia county, nearby Kashi, in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China (39°20'N and 75°05'E), with the elevation of 2 100 m in the northeastern Pamirs.

Abstract:In late May of 2013, a Relict Gull (Larus relictus) breeding colony was found at Gouchi wetland, Dingbian County of NW Shaanxi. A total of 434 nests were in two sub-colonies with 341 nests and 93 nests respectively, and the nests were built in the central part of a small upland, about 30-50 cm above the water level, in a saline-alkaline march with potholes here and there. This finding brought a new breeding site of the Relict Gull to China.

Abstract:In this article, the contents of nine heavy metals of Manganese, Cadmium, Chromium, Copper, Nickel, Lead, Zinc, Arsenic, Mercury from wintering Great Bustard's feathers in the Yellow River wetland in Shaanxi Province were determinated. Among them, the content of Zn was the highest of 147.05 mg/kg, followed by Mn of 93.03 mg/kg, and the contents of Cd, Hg were the lowest, of 0.46 mg/kg and 0.03 mg/kg respectively.

Abstract:The Qinggeda Lake is located in the north of Tianshan Mts., 44°05'N and 87°30'E, altitude 480 m, near the city of Urumqi, Xinjiang. We made census and analyzed the distribution and population status of birds around the Qinggeda Lake using the field methods of transect survey, spot sampling and mist netting etc. During 2002-2013, altogether 225 bird species were recorded, belonging to 18 orders, 53 families and 124 genera, and accounting for 48% of all birds in Xinjiang. 83 species belong to the Passeriformes, accounting for 37%. For residence type analysis, there are about 28 species of local resident birds, 52 of summer visitors, 24 of overwintering birds, more than 87 of travelers (passing only) and about 34 of straggler birds, with most of birds (197 species, c. 87%) being seasonal species. Therefore, the Qinggeda Lake is an important stopover site for the migratory birds (104 species of waterbirds, c. 46%), rather than the breeding or wintering areas. The characteristics of population dynamics were with a certain cyclical, seasonal change, mutation, sometimes uncertain and difficult to predict and so on. About 43 species of birds (19%) belong to the key species in the National Protected List, need to strengthen management and population conservation. In summer, because of agriculture irrigation, the lake was almost empty and it was very difficult for the waterfowls. Other threats in the Corps Districts include the unitary cropping pattern, mechanized farming and excessive use of pesticides, such as insecticides, herbicides and rodenticides, bringing disaster to the birds and other wildlife.

Abstract:According to the published research literatures, Hainan has 78% species of birds which same as to Mainland and has 40% species of birds which same as to Taiwan. It shows that Hainan became an island later than Taiwan and its kinship of birds to Mainland being more closer compared to Taiwan. Since Taiwan and Hainan becoming islands, the bird compositions there have developed their own local characteristic. Taiwan has some Palearctic region's birds which cannot be found in Hainan, while Hainan has some oriental region's birds which are not distributed in Taiwan.

Abstract:Species richness pattern is a stereo pattern that distributing within a certain land area, it includes three-dimensional distribution of species richness that occurring in longitude, latitude and vertical (elevation above sea level and depth under sea level) gradients. In recent years, species richness patterns and underlying mechanisms along the elevational gradient have been widely depicted by biogeography scientists and ecologists. Despite species richness patterns along the elevational gradient are very diverse; two universal patterns are widely reported: species richness decreases as the elevation increasing and species richness peaks at mid-elevations. Climate stability, biological factors (interspecies interaction), energy, habitat heterogeneity, disturbances, evolutionary time, speciation rate, area, mid-domain effect, niche conservatism are widely used in explaining the disparity of species richness patterns. One consensus among these related studies is that species richness pattern is driven by multiple factors and also the comprehensive interactions among driving factors. Species richness pattern differs among regions due to the unique and different geography, topography, climate, geological evolutionary history, species pool, species evolutionary history, speciation rate, disturbances and other factors. Therefore, the underlying mechanisms and the main driving factor of species richness patterns differ among regions. Even within a region, species richness pattern differs among different taxonomic species groups because the evolutionary and dispersal history as well as the ecological adaptability differ among species groups. Therefore, we need to carry out specific and careful analysis to gain reliable conclusion when explaining species richness patterns and underlying mechanisms among regions and species groups.

Abstract:Increasing urbanization worldwide resulted in increased human impacts on ecosystems. Urbanization effects on birds have drawn much attention from community to individual. At community level, urbanization impacts on assemblage, species richness, abundance, biomass, biodiversity, etc. were documented; Species level studies indicated the causes underlying bird community patterns in urbanization environment: different species have various responses to urbanization; Recent studies went further to detect urbanization pressures on birds by comparing individuals in behaviors and life history traits between urban environments and native habitats. Many evidences showed that a variety of factors induced with urbanization, including land use change, human disturbance, heat island effect, food change, nest predation, artificial light, etc. contributed more or less to the urbanization effects on birds.