Movement patterns of Sanderling (Calidris alba) in the East Asian–Australasian Flyway and a comparison of methods for identification of crucial areas for conservation
Simeon Lisovski A D , Ken Gosbell B , Maureen Christie B , Bethany J. Hoye A , Marcel Klaassen A , Iain D. Stewart B , Alice J. Taysom C and Clive Minton B
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Deakin University, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Centre for Integrative Ecology, 75 Pigdons Road, Geelong, Vic. 3220, Australia.
B Victorian Wader Study Group, c/o 165 Dalgetty Road, Beaumaris, Vic. 3193, Australia.
C Applied Ecology Research Group, College of Engineering and Science, Victoria University – Footscray Park Campus, PO Box 14428, Melbourne MC, Vic. 8001, Australia.
D Corresponding author. Email: simeon.lisovski@gmail.com
Emu 116(2) 168-177 https://doi.org/10.1071/MU15042
Submitted: 20 April 2015 Accepted: 1 December 2015 Published: 10 March 2016
Abstract
Worldwide, most populations of migratory shorebirds are in jeopardy, none more so than those of the East Asian–Australasian Flyway (EAAF). In order to preserve these highly mobile species a detailed understanding of their use of feeding and resting sites along the flyway is required. In this study we used light-level geolocators and new analytical tools to reveal individual breeding locations and migration routes of 13 Sanderlings (Calidris alba) that spend their non-breeding season in South Australia. We then used these individual migration routes to identify the timing and location of important stopping areas and compared this with assessments based on resightings of leg-flagged birds and count data. During both northward and southward migration, Sanderlings were found to make extensive use of five main areas of the Chinese coastline, the Yellow Sea and the northern end of the Sakhalin Peninsula. Insights gained from the individual migration routes highlight inherent biases in using only count and resighting data to identify important feeding and resting sites along the Flyway. These findings suggest that data on individual movements may be crucial to effective conservation planning of shorebirds in the EAAF and elsewhere in the world.
Additional keywords: banding data, bird counts, bird migration, conservation planning, light-level geolocation, MCMC path estimation, migratory connectivity, resightings.
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