Restoration of urban waterbird diversity: A case study of the construction of a waterbird ecological corridor in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, Southern China

Abstract

Rapid urbanization has intensified habitat fragmentation and shrinkage of waterbirds, threatening the sustainable development of waterbird diversity. Urban waterbird restoration can be achieved by considering suburban waterbirds as the source of restoration of urban waterbird diversity and by overcoming the separation between urban and suburban populations. Optimal design of ecological corridors is the most effective approach to facilitate movement of waterbirds. However, three challenges to applying ecological corridors to urban waterbird diversity restoration remain: (1)identifying focal species for the ecological corridor network; (2)identifying nodes in the ecological corridor; (3) assigning priority for design of the different areas in the corridor. The aim of this study was to develop methods to resolve these challenges using the design of a waterbird ecological corridor in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area in Southern China as a case study. Under the proposed methods, it is hoped that waterbird recovery will occur in the city, characterized by a complex three-dimensional space, thereby promoting an increase in urban waterbird diversity.

Keywords

• Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area
• Waterbirds
• Restoration
• Habitat suitability
• Ecological corridor