ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Potential Suitable Habitat Distribution
and Conservation Strategy for the Siberian Crane
(Grus leucogeranus) at Spring Stopover Sites
in Northeastern China
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1
CAS Key Laboratory of Forest Ecology and Management, Institute of Applied Ecology,
Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang, China
2
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
3
Momoge Nature Reserve Bureau, Zhenlai, China
4
China Medical University, Shenyang, China
Submission date: 2019-08-14
Final revision date: 2019-10-18
Acceptance date: 2019-10-27
Online publication date: 2020-03-23
Publication date: 2020-05-12
Corresponding author
Yuanman Hu
Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2020;29(5):3375-3384
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ABSTRACT
The wetlands where the migratory waterfowl stop during their migration, also called stopover
wetlands, are important nodes where migratory waterfowl supplement their energy and food. The
Siberian crane (Grus leucogeranus), a wetland obligate endangered species, is highly dependent on a
series of stopovers on the migration route. Although some conservation measures have been adopted in
China, it is still necessary to develop an appropriate management strategy to preserve this endangered
species at different stopover areas. This paper used maximum entropy modeling to evaluate habitat
suitability for the migration of the Siberian crane. We found that vegetation community type and
water depth are the most important factors affecting the distribution of the Siberian crane during the
migration period. For Siberian crane migration, the most suitable water depth does not exceed 60 cm,
the desirable land cover type is swamp, the most suitable community is Phragmites-Sparganium,
the most suitable vegetation coverage is from 8% to 35%, the distance from a residential area is
over 2800 m, and the distance from a road is over 2000 m. On this basis, some specific conservation
strategies are proposed for better protection and management of the Siberian crane’s habitat. These
results can serve as a reference point for the preservation and management of the potential habitats of
similar endangered waterfowl.