IUCN situation analysis on East and Southeast Asian intertidal habitats, with particular reference to the Yellow Sea (including the Bohai Sea).

• Main Authors: MacKinnon, John, Verkuil, Yvonne I, Murray, Nicholas
• Format: Book
• Language: English
• Published: International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) 2012
• Subjects: Arctic
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/11370/daa26a21-b8a1-4972-a97c-986892a3f2d0; https://research.rug.nl/en/publications/daa26a21-b8a1-4972-a97c-986892a3f2d0; https://portals.iucn.org/library/efiles/documents/SSC-OP-047.pdf; http://www.mendeley.com/research/iucn-situation-analysis-east-southeast-asian-intertidal-habitats-particular-reference-yellow-sea-inc-1

The IUCN Species Survival Commission and IUCN Asia Regional Office commissioned this independent report to assess the state and condition of intertidal habitats along the East Asian- Australasian Flyway (EAAF), in response to growing concerns expressed by IUCN members over observed declines in biodiversity, the loss of ecological services, and an increase in ecological disasters. This report is a situation analysis, and it seeks to gather in one place the relevant data and analyses, and to present as clear a picture of the status of the intertidal zone in the EAAF as the data allow. By intention, this report makes no recommendations, but it should serve as a resource for those stakeholders empowered to make or influence decisions and policies in the region. This report makes use of the status and population trends of key species of waterbirds as indicators of the environmental health of intertidal habitats (including beaches, marshes, mudflats, mangroves and seagrass beds). It presents an analysis of 395 coastal sites used by waterbirds along the EAAF and identifies 16 key areas. The findings presented show that there is cause for significant concern over the status of the intertidal zone along the EAAF. Fisheries and vital ecological services are collapsing and ecological disasters increasing, with concomitant implications for human livelihoods. Observed rates of declines of waterbird species of 5–9% per year (and up to 26% per year for Critically Endangered Spoon-billed Sandpiper Eurynorhynchus pygmeus) are among the highest of any ecological system on the planet. Breeding success among migrating species in their Arctic breeding grounds and survival on most wintering grounds (for northern breeding species) at the southern end of their migrations appears satisfactory, at least where hunting is sustainable. However, problems clearly are occurring along the EAAF during migration. Unless major steps are taken to reverse current trends, the EAAF is likely to experience extinctions and associated collapses of ...