Description
These maps represent potentially suitable habitats for three vulnerable waterfowl species (red-breasted goose, taiga bean goose and Bewick’s swan). During migrations across dry Eurasian grasslands the birds use large waterbodies (such as the Caspian and the Aral seas), temporal wetlands (during spring migration), and agricultural croplands as stopover sites. Water availability is a strong limiting factor affecting waterfowl spatial distribution, especially in agricultural landscape where spilled grains on croplands provide abundant high-quality food.
In this study, we provided the first estimation of potentially suitable habitats for waterfowl and revealed fine-scale landscape features affecting water availability. Understanding waterfowl choice of stopover sites and the main factors affecting it is crucial for bird conservation, especially because Central Asia has one of the lowest level of migratory bird protection.