Prospects for monitoring bird migration along the East Asian‐Australasian Flyway using weather radar
Abstract Each year, billions of birds migrate across the globe, and interpretation of weather radar signals is increasingly being used to document the spatial and temporal migration patterns in Europe and America. Such approaches are yet to be applied in the East Asian‐Australasian Flyway (EAAF), on...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2023-04-01
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| Series: | Remote Sensing in Ecology and Conservation |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/rse2.307 |
| _version_ | 1827962671988736000 |
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| author | Xu Shi Cheng Hu Joshua Soderholm Jason Chapman Huafeng Mao Kai Cui Zhijun Ma Dongli Wu Richard A. Fuller |
| author_facet | Xu Shi Cheng Hu Joshua Soderholm Jason Chapman Huafeng Mao Kai Cui Zhijun Ma Dongli Wu Richard A. Fuller |
| author_sort | Xu Shi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Each year, billions of birds migrate across the globe, and interpretation of weather radar signals is increasingly being used to document the spatial and temporal migration patterns in Europe and America. Such approaches are yet to be applied in the East Asian‐Australasian Flyway (EAAF), one of the most species‐rich and threatened flyways in the world. Logistical challenges limit direct on‐ground monitoring of migratory birds in many parts of the EAAF, resulting in knowledge gaps on population status and site use that limit evidence‐based conservation planning. Weather radar data have great potential for achieving comprehensive migratory bird monitoring along the EAAF. In this study, we discuss the feasibility and challenges of using weather radar to complement on‐ground bird migration surveys in the flyway. We summarize the location, capacity and data availability of weather radars across EAAF countries, as well as the spatial coverage of the radars with respect to migrants' geographic distribution and migration hotspots along the flyway, with an exemplar analysis of biological movement patterns extracted from Chinese weather radars. There are more than 430 weather radars in EAAF countries, covering on average half of bird species' passage and non‐breeding distributions, as well as 70% of internationally important sites for migratory shorebirds. We conclude that the weather radar network could be a powerful resource for monitoring bird movements over the full annual cycle throughout much of the EAAF, providing estimates of migration traffic rates, site use, and long‐term population trends, especially in remote and less‐surveyed regions. Analyses of weather radar data would complement existing ornithological surveys and help understand the past and present status of the avian community in a highly threatened flyway. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-09T16:45:30Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-319d6d42dbac4f48b955835902a770b7 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2056-3485 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-09T16:45:30Z |
| publishDate | 2023-04-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Remote Sensing in Ecology and Conservation |
| spelling | doaj.art-319d6d42dbac4f48b955835902a770b72023-04-22T17:18:04ZengWileyRemote Sensing in Ecology and Conservation2056-34852023-04-019216918110.1002/rse2.307Prospects for monitoring bird migration along the East Asian‐Australasian Flyway using weather radarXu Shi0Cheng Hu1Joshua Soderholm2Jason Chapman3Huafeng Mao4Kai Cui5Zhijun Ma6Dongli Wu7Richard A. Fuller8School of Biological Sciences The University of Queensland St Lucia Queensland 4072 AustraliaAdvanced Technology Research Institute Beijing Institute of Technology Jinan 250300 ChinaAustralian Bureau of Meteorology Melbourne Victoria 3001 AustraliaCentre for Ecology and Conservation, and Environment and Sustainability Institute University of Exeter Penryn Cornwall TR10 9FE United KingdomThe Radar Research Laboratory and the Key Laboratory of Electronic and Information Technology in Satellite Navigation Ministry of Education, Beijing Institute of Technology Beijing 100081 ChinaAdvanced Technology Research Institute Beijing Institute of Technology Jinan 250300 ChinaMinistry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, National Observation and Research Station for Wetland Ecosystems of the Yangtze Estuary Fudan University Shanghai 200438 ChinaMeteorological Observation Center China Meteorological Administration Beijing 100081 ChinaSchool of Biological Sciences The University of Queensland St Lucia Queensland 4072 AustraliaAbstract Each year, billions of birds migrate across the globe, and interpretation of weather radar signals is increasingly being used to document the spatial and temporal migration patterns in Europe and America. Such approaches are yet to be applied in the East Asian‐Australasian Flyway (EAAF), one of the most species‐rich and threatened flyways in the world. Logistical challenges limit direct on‐ground monitoring of migratory birds in many parts of the EAAF, resulting in knowledge gaps on population status and site use that limit evidence‐based conservation planning. Weather radar data have great potential for achieving comprehensive migratory bird monitoring along the EAAF. In this study, we discuss the feasibility and challenges of using weather radar to complement on‐ground bird migration surveys in the flyway. We summarize the location, capacity and data availability of weather radars across EAAF countries, as well as the spatial coverage of the radars with respect to migrants' geographic distribution and migration hotspots along the flyway, with an exemplar analysis of biological movement patterns extracted from Chinese weather radars. There are more than 430 weather radars in EAAF countries, covering on average half of bird species' passage and non‐breeding distributions, as well as 70% of internationally important sites for migratory shorebirds. We conclude that the weather radar network could be a powerful resource for monitoring bird movements over the full annual cycle throughout much of the EAAF, providing estimates of migration traffic rates, site use, and long‐term population trends, especially in remote and less‐surveyed regions. Analyses of weather radar data would complement existing ornithological surveys and help understand the past and present status of the avian community in a highly threatened flyway.https://doi.org/10.1002/rse2.307Annual cycleEAAFEast Asian–Australasian Flywaymigrationremote sensingweather radar |
| spellingShingle | Xu Shi Cheng Hu Joshua Soderholm Jason Chapman Huafeng Mao Kai Cui Zhijun Ma Dongli Wu Richard A. Fuller Prospects for monitoring bird migration along the East Asian‐Australasian Flyway using weather radar Remote Sensing in Ecology and Conservation Annual cycle EAAF East Asian–Australasian Flyway migration remote sensing weather radar |
| title | Prospects for monitoring bird migration along the East Asian‐Australasian Flyway using weather radar |
| title_full | Prospects for monitoring bird migration along the East Asian‐Australasian Flyway using weather radar |
| title_fullStr | Prospects for monitoring bird migration along the East Asian‐Australasian Flyway using weather radar |
| title_full_unstemmed | Prospects for monitoring bird migration along the East Asian‐Australasian Flyway using weather radar |
| title_short | Prospects for monitoring bird migration along the East Asian‐Australasian Flyway using weather radar |
| title_sort | prospects for monitoring bird migration along the east asian australasian flyway using weather radar |
| topic | Annual cycle EAAF East Asian–Australasian Flyway migration remote sensing weather radar |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/rse2.307 |
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