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Delayed Flood Recession in Central Yangtze Floodplains Can Cause Significant Food Shortages for Wintering Geese: Results of Inundation Experiment

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Abstract

Carex meadows are critical habitat for wintering geese in the floodplains of the middle and lower reaches of Yangtze River, China. These meadows follow a growth cycle closely tied to the seasonal hydrological fluctuation: as water levels recede in the fall, exposed mudflats provide habitat for Carex spp. growth. The seasonal growth of Carex overlaps the arrival of wintering geese and provides an important food source for the migrants. Recent alterations to the Yangtze’s hydrology, however, have disrupted the synchronous relationship between water levels, Carex growth and wintering geese at Dongting Lake. In October 2012, we carried out an outdoor mesocosm experiment to investigate potential impacts of delayed water recession on the germination and growth of Carex heterolepis, the dominant Carex species at Dongting Lake, to understand how changes in hydrology might impact wintering goose habitat. Results showed that the delayed flood recession exerted significant impact on the first growth cycle of Carex growth. Prolonged inundation significantly lowered the intrinsic growth rate (P = 0.03) and maximum growth rates (P = 0.02). It also took significantly longer time to reach the peak growth rate (P = 0.04 and 0.05 for number of shoot and biomass, respectively). As a result, biomass accumulation was reduced by 45, 62 and 90 % for 10-day, 20-day and 30-day inundation treatments, respectively. These results indicate a severe risk of food shortage for wintering geese when water recession delayed. This potential risk should be taken into consideration when operating any hydrological control structures that alter the flood regimes in Dongting Lake.

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Acknowledgments

We thank EDTLNNR and Dongting Lake Station for Wetland Ecosystem Research, Chinese Academy of Science for providing experimental station and instruments. We are also grateful to Mr. Xiangcai Zhang a local resident, for providing help with plant sample management. We thank Dr. Peihao Cong (Lanzhou University), Dr. Zhiyong Hou (Dongting Lake Station for Wetland Ecosystem Research, Chinese Academy of Science), Dr. Bolong Wen (Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences), and Yu Ning, a PhD candidate at Beijing Forestry University for their help during the identification of Carex species. We thank James Burnham (a PhD candidate at University of Wisconsin-Madison) and Xiaoxue Yang (Beijing Forestry University) for correcting English expression, grammar, syntax and spelling, as well as providing us with constructive comments to improve our manuscript. We are grateful to the journal editors, Dr. Neil Saintilan (Science Division, Office of Environment and Heritage, NSW Australia), Dr. John Takekawa (USGS Western Ecological Research Center, SFB Estuary Field Station, 505 Azuar Drive, Vallejo, USA), and one anonymous reviewer for their insightful suggestions and comments. The study was supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program, Grant No. 2012CB417005 & No. 2009CB421103).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Nature Conservation, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, China

    Lei Guan, Duoduo Feng & Guangchun Lei

  2. Science Division, Office of Environment and Heritage, Department of Premier and Cabinet, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Li Wen

  3. Administration of East Dongting Lake National Nature Reserve, Yueyang, Hunan, China

    Hong Zhang

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  1. Lei Guan
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  2. Li Wen
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  4. Hong Zhang
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  5. Guangchun Lei
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Correspondence to Guangchun Lei.

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Guan, L., Wen, L., Feng, D. et al. Delayed Flood Recession in Central Yangtze Floodplains Can Cause Significant Food Shortages for Wintering Geese: Results of Inundation Experiment. Environmental Management 54, 1331–1341 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-014-0350-7

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