A restoration trial of bird habitat on the intertidal flats in the Yangtze Estuary and its short-term effects
长江口潮滩湿地鸟类适栖地营造实验及短期效应

A study for bird habitats was conducted in inter-tidal flat area of Chongxi Wetland, Yangtze Estuary, during the periods from 2006 to 2007. A 7-hm2 area was established for wetland restoration with 50% of the area for restoration and 50% of the area for control, respectively. Results showed that there were significantly developments in vegetation communities, macrobenthic, fish and bird habitats on the landscape of the restoration site. During restoration period, Reed (Phragmites australis) marsh in restoration site developed to a diverse area with open-water (40%), mud flat (30%), and multi-vegetation communities (30%). A diversity of vegetation succession with patch reeds, forest belt and other species was established during the study period; even the number of macrobenthic species was declined at the beginning of study period. However, it was found that there are more macrobenthic species (> 65%) in the restoration site than that of the control site in 2007. After restoration, 16 fish species were found in autumn and winter. The most significant development of this restoration site was bird communities. 56 bird species were found, including Charadriiformes and Ciconiiformes which we expected to obtain through ecological restoration, which was 56% more than the controlled area. This ecological restoration study shows that the idea and technique developed by ecological engineering is reasonable and feasible. It is suggested that this study can apply to ecological restoration of the estuarine wetlands in China.