Potential effects of habitat change on migratory bird movements and avian influenza transmission in the East Asian-Australasian Flyway

Diversity
By: , and 

Links

Abstract

Wild waterbirds, and especially wild waterfowl, are considered to be a reservoir for avian influenza viruses, with transmission likely occurring at the agricultural-wildlife interface. In the past few decades, avian influenza has repeatedly emerged in China along the East Asian-Australasian Flyway (EAAF), where extensive habitat conversion has occurred. Rapid environmental changes in the EAAF, especially distributional changes in rice paddy agriculture, have the potential to affect both the movements of wild migratory birds and the likelihood of spillover at the agricultural-wildlife interface. To begin to understand the potential implications such changes may have on waterfowl and disease transmission risk, we created dynamic Brownian Bridge Movement Models (dBBMM) based on waterfowl telemetry data. We used these dBBMM models to create hypothetical scenarios that would predict likely changes in waterfowl distribution relative to recent changes in rice distribution quantified through remote sensing. Our models examined a range of responses in which increased availability of rice paddies would drive increased use by waterfowl and decreased availability would result in decreased use, predicted from empirical data. Results from our scenarios suggested that in southeast China, relatively small decreases in rice agriculture could lead to dramatic loss of stopover habitat, and in northeast China, increases in rice paddies should provide new areas that can be used by waterfowl. Finally, we explored the implications of how such scenarios of changing waterfowl distribution may affect the potential for avian influenza transmission. Our results provide advance understanding of changing disease transmission threats by incorporating real-world data that predicts differences in habitat utilization by migratory birds over time.

Study Area

Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title Potential effects of habitat change on migratory bird movements and avian influenza transmission in the East Asian-Australasian Flyway
Series title Diversity
DOI 10.3390/d15050601
Volume 15
Issue 5
Year Published 2023
Language English
Publisher MDPI
Contributing office(s) Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Eastern Ecological Science Center
Description 601, 17 p.
Country China, North Korea, South Korea, Russia
Google Analytic Metrics Metrics page
Additional publication details