Optimization of wetland water replenishment process based on the response of waterbirds in a semi-arid and cold region

Emergency ecological water replenishment(EEWR) has become a major strategy for recovering degraded wetland ecosystems worldwide. However, the actual replenishment process mainly depended on the tradeoff and experience between the managers of Taoer River and Xianghai Wetland, which is very random and lacks theoretical guidance. Thus, there is urge to assessing water replenishment effect on wetland and help to optimize the process. With contrasting results as different ecosystem elements respond differently, the optimization of water replenishment process should be based on the improvement of the ecosystem as whole rather than its separate elements. However, the dynamic monitoring of biotic and abiotic factors to reveal the complex relationships underlying their response can be challenging. Based on 6 years' series data of migratory birds and environmental factors of Xianghai Wetland, which started emergency ecological water replenishment since 2004 and occurred frequently since 2011, the broader ecosystem response to water replenishment was analyzed using a multiple paths regression model and proposed an optimized scheme. The results showed that bird diversity was positively influenced by the increase in water area and vegetation was induced by ecological water replenishment. While the response of bird abundance to water replenishment varied with time, adequate open water in March was found to have a positive relationship with abundance by promoting vegetation germination and the reproduction of benthic organisms. High flow levels in the wet season (June–August) can negatively affect waterbird abundance by rapidly increasing water levels and inhibiting plant respiration, which leads to the reduction in feeding efficiency of waterbirds and biomass accumulation. Therefore, the existing ecological water replenishment time (May–September) is not suitable for bird abundance and should be advanced to spring (March–April). Given the antagonistic effect of flow on diversity and abundance, the total replenished water should be approximately 100 million m3. To avoid the negative influence of high water in the wet season, the allocation of water could be 0.3, 0.3, 0.2, and 0.2 million m3 in April, May, September, and October, respectively. These results scientifically support wetland protection and management.