• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.21-31
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• 2020

Shorebirds migrating along the East Asian-Australasian Flyway (EAAF) have been drastically decreasing due to continuous area loss and quality degradation of intertidal mudflats in the Yellow Sea. Evaluating the current habitat quality by means of habitat carrying capacity estimation could be effective in predicting the magnitude of impacts caused by habitat loss and provide better understanding to improve management strategies. In this study, we estimated the total biomass of Macrophthalmus japonicus, a main prey item of curlews in the Korea peninsular as habitat carrying capacity of the southern intertidal mudflat of Ganghwa Island, one of the key stopover sites for curlews in the EAAF. The result of the estimation took into account spatial differences of prey biomass and the available foraging time by tide patterns. Accordingly, it was found that curlew populations account for 30.26% of the habitat carrying capacity. When we calculated the mean biomass of the area and extrapolated it to the whole area to calculate the total biomass, it was found that the curlews have consumed 10.92% of the total biomass. The results show that the habitat carrying capacity of the southern intertidal mudflat of Ganghwa Island has decreased by 7.8% compared to a study conducted twenty years ago employing the same method. This study shows that there can be considerable differences in the results of habitat carrying capacity estimation between different methods, indicating that various environmental factors that affect the estimation results of habitat carrying capacity must be considered to achieve a more precise analysis and assessment.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.281-288
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• 2013

In this study we estimated the carrying capacity of the southern intertidal zone of Kanghwa Island to evaluate the habitat quality for Curlews(Far Eastern Curlew Numenius madagascariensis and Eurasian Curlew Numenius arquata). Biomass of the macroinvertebrate(Macrophthalmus japonicus) was estimated by based on the spatial distribution of the sediment grain size using GIS tools. According to our analysis the southern intertidal zone of Kanghwa Island was able to support 11,767 individuals for 153 days in the Spring 2012 and 16,275 individuals for 122 days in the Autumn 2012. The proportion of mean population to the carrying capacity in the Spring and Autumn was 9.4% and 5.9%, respectively. These values are 2.8-6.3% smaller than those of the previous study held in 1993-94. For the conservation of the study area, more research and management is needed. And in further studies, diverse characteristics of the intertidal habitat should be considered in spatial analysis to have a precise estimate of the carrying capacity.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.251-264
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• 2013

There are some factors affecting the shorebirds in selecting a coastal inland roost site where they have to stay during the high tide when the entire intertidal zone is covered with water. We investigated eight species (Eastern Curlews Numenius madagascariensis, Green Shanks Tringa nebularia, Bar-tailed Godwits Limosa lapponica, Grey Plovers Pluvialis squatarola, Dunlins Calidris alpine, Whimbrels Numenius phaeopus, Eurasian Curlews Numenius arquata and Terek Sandpipers Xenus cinereus) to identify the spatial and temporal variability in coastal inland roost use in the area and the factors influencing the use. We considered the area and length of the standing water in the roost site, temperature, wind speed, the time of migration and the intensity of disturbance. As a result, number of individuals and type of species using the roost site varied across spatial and temporal scales. And the factors affecting the roost use was species-specific. The roost site of the study area was a closed shrimp farm however, it has been converted to a Salicornia herbacea, a salt marsh plant, farm recently. In a situation where coastal inland roost site is needed, we hereby describe a resolution for the juxtaposition of shorebirds and farming.