China’s intertidal mariculture as an unexpected lifeline sustaining the world’s most threatened shorebird flyway

Finding ways to sustainably balance human needs with biodiversity conservation is increasingly challenging, especially on densely populated coasts. In China, rising demands for seafood and land intensify pressures on coastal habitats-the most critical refueling sites for migratory shorebirds along the East Asian-Australasian Flyway. Here we report on a continent-wide scale, decade-long field investigation on how China's extensive intertidal mariculture impacts these vulnerable shorebirds. We show that commercial molluscs have become an essential resource for the molluscivorous shorebirds, determining their large-scale spatial distribution and temporal population dynamics during northward migration. We also reveal the unintended declines in both molluscs and shorebirds following a conservation-motivated mariculture ban, highlighting the "tragedy of the commons" as a consequence of unregulated public use. This study unveils the pivotal yet unforeseen role of China's intertidal mariculture in sustaining shorebirds along the world's most threatened flyway. If this delicate balance is disrupted without viable alternative food resources for the shorebirds, a considerable part of the flyway populations will be at risk. Evidence-based policymaking and management are required to harmonize seafood production with biodiversity conservation.

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Publication Details

Journal
Nature Communications
Published
2025-12-09
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-65948-w
Primary Topic
Avian ecology and behavior
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

China’s intertidal mariculture as an unexpected lifeline sustaining the world’s most threatened shorebird flyway

Weipan Lei, Tong Mu, Zhengwang Zhang, Zhenchang Zhu et al.
Nature Communications
Avian ecology and behavior
article

China’s intertidal mariculture as an unexpected lifeline sustaining the world’s most threatened shorebird flyway

Weipan Lei, Tong Mu, Zhengwang Zhang, Zhenchang Zhu, He‐Bo Peng, Theunis Piersma, Chi‐Yeung Choi, David S. Melville, Tjeerd Joris Bouma, Guangchun Lei, Jing Li, Yingrong Huang, Zhijun Ma, Zhifeng Yang
article en

Abstract

Finding ways to sustainably balance human needs with biodiversity conservation is increasingly challenging, especially on densely populated coasts. In China, rising demands for seafood and land intensify pressures on coastal habitats-the most critical refueling sites for migratory shorebirds along the East Asian-Australasian Flyway. Here we report on a continent-wide scale, decade-long field investigation on how China's extensive intertidal mariculture impacts these vulnerable shorebirds. We show that commercial molluscs have become an essential resource for the molluscivorous shorebirds, determining their large-scale spatial distribution and temporal population dynamics during northward migration. We also reveal the unintended declines in both molluscs and shorebirds following a conservation-motivated mariculture ban, highlighting the "tragedy of the commons" as a consequence of unregulated public use. This study unveils the pivotal yet unforeseen role of China's intertidal mariculture in sustaining shorebirds along the world's most threatened flyway. If this delicate balance is disrupted without viable alternative food resources for the shorebirds, a considerable part of the flyway populations will be at risk. Evidence-based policymaking and management are required to harmonize seafood production with biodiversity conservation.

Nature CommunicationsVol. 16(1)
University of Groningen (NL), Utrecht University (NL), Fryske Akademy (NL), Princeton University (US), Beijing Normal University (CN), Princeton Public Schools (US), Southern University of Science and Technology (CN), Beijing Forestry University (CN), Guangzhou Experimental Station (CN), Guangdong Research Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower (CN), Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou) (CN), Environmental Protection Engineering (Greece) (GR), Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NL), Ministry of Education (IR), Duke Kunshan University (CN)
Princeton University, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, National Natural Science Foundation of China, Universiteit Utrecht, Beijing Normal University, Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, Fudan University, Norges Forskningsråd, Koninklijk Nederlands Instituut voor Onderzoek der Zee, Guangdong University of Technology, Beijing Forestry University, Southern University of Science and Technology, Duke Kunshan University, Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou)
Openalex Percentile: Top 62%
Avian ecology and behavior
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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