Diverse usage of waterbird habitats and spatial management in Yancheng coastal wetlands

In recent years, the suitable habitat for waterbirds in the Yancheng coastal wetlands has shown continuous degradation and decreasing dimensions. In this paper, the spatial distribution differences and main environmental variables of the suitable habitats for waterbird guilds were analyzed based on the field survey data and a random forest (RF) model. In addition, landscape indicators were adopted to study the structural differences in the landscape that were associated with suitable habitats for waterbird guilds. The results showed that the suitable habitats of low-sensitivity waterbirds were widely distributed, and suggested strong adaptive capacity to the environment. The area of suitable habitat for the four kinds of low-sensitivity waterbirds was obviously larger than that of high-sensitivity waterbirds. Among them, the area of heron habitat was the largest, covering 60% of the total area. From the perspective of the main environmental variables, habitat types (T_hab) and vegetation coverage (P_fvc) were the main variables affecting the spatial distribution of the eight waterbird guilds. There was a negative impact on the guilds when the coverage exceeded 70% (p < 0.05). From the perspective of landscape structure, the high-sensitivity waterbirds selected habitats with concentrated patch and strong connectivity, and the low-sensitivity waterbirds selected habitats with fragmented patches and diverse types. Based on the above analysis, spatial management patterns were proposed for the waterbird habitats.