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Response of oriental white storks Ciconia boyciana to the accumulative impact of anthropogenic habitat destruction and possible Allee effect

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 August 2008

Hui-Yu Liu
Affiliation:
College of Geography Science, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210097, P. R. China, & Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Environmental Change and Ecological Construction, Nanjing 210097, P. R. China
Zhen-Shan Lin*
Affiliation:
College of Geography Science, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210097, P. R. China, & Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Environmental Change and Ecological Construction, Nanjing 210097, P. R. China
Hong-Yu Liu
Affiliation:
College of Geography Science, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210097, P. R. China, &, Northeast Institutes of Geography and Agricultural Ecology, CAS, Changchun 130012, P. R. China
*
*Author for correspondance; e-mail: linzhenshan@njnu.edu.cn
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Abstract

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The Oriental White Stork Ciconia boyciana is threatened with extinction due to anthropogenic habitat destruction. The scaling of its environmental capacity (K) with number of patches (P) has been studied and its response to the cumulative impact of anthropogenic habitat destruction has been simulated by a non-autonomous population model for single species. The results are: 1) The scaling index of environmental capacity of the Oriental White Stork to number of patches is 0.9768, i.e., KP0.9768. 2) By designing different scenarios to improve habitat quality, we find that it is more beneficial for the long-term persistence of the Oriental White Stork to increase average patch size than to increase the number of patches, if the total area of habitat remains the same. 3) If the Allee effect is significant, the Oriental White Stork is a ‘living dead’ species – one which is doomed to local extinction. To avoid extinction, habitat quality must be considerably improved.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Birdlife International 2008