Impact of Urbanisation Intensity on Bird Diversity in River Wetlands around Chaohu Lake, China.

ABSTRACT: Urbanisation is known to result in 'urban stream syndrome', which poses a huge threat to the river health. Birds, which are an important part of the river ecosystem, are sensitive to environmental changes in the basin. The ratio of the impervious surface area is a macroscopic indicator of urbanisation intensity in river basins. In this study, we combined the results of a year-round field survey of seven river wetlands around Chaohu Lake (China) with satellite remote sensing image data from the same period. The species richness at sections of the lake entrance was higher than in the middle sections of the river, and the Shannon-Wiener index during autumn was higher than that during winter. The waterbird diversity index declined exponentially with increases in the intensity of urbanisation.

SUBMITTER: Xu Q 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8868527 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature