Water Birds Community Characteristics of the Coastal Wetlands of the South · west Coast of Korea

In order to investigate the community characteristics of water birds arriving in the coastal wetlands of the south and west coasts, 10 coastal wetlands were surveyed from May 2008 to March 2013. According to the survey results, a total of 96 species and 282,844 individual water birds have been observed. The dominant species are Calidris alpina, Limosa lapponica, Larus crassirostris, and Charadrius alexandrinus. Most of the water birds make use of tidal mudflats, and are most commonly observed in the spring, both in the number of individuals and the number of species. By region, the largest number of species was observed in Doam Bay, and the largest number of birds was found in the Seocheon tidal mudflat. Doam Bay is a region where various habitats exist, and the Seocheon tidal mudflat is a region where large tidal flats are distributed. Snipes and Plovers are dominant in the Seocheon tidal mudflat and on Yubu-do Island, while ducks dominated in Doam Bay and Gangjin Bay. Seagulls are dominant in the Daechoncheon estuary, an on Jangbongdo and Jeungdo islands. They are divided into three groups according to the similarity index (Ro). Group 1 is dominated by ducks, Group 2 is dominated by waders, and Group 3 is dominated by seagulls. The environment of the habitat in each coastal wetland is different, and the composition of the species varies according to the environment of the habitat. Therefore, habitat protection, restoration, and management will have a positive impact on increasing ecological diversity if the management of various habitats is done together.