Identifying Farm Pond Habitat Suitability for the Common Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus): A Conservation-Perspective Approach
The purpose of this study was to establish a habitat-suitability assessment model for Gallinula chloropus, or the Common Moorhen, to be applied to the selection of the most suitable farm pond for habitat conservation in Chiayi County, Taiwan. First, the fuzzy Delphi method was employed to evaluate h...
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doaj-bd289e2c0c564797b50b332cd7c191822020-11-24T22:47:53ZengMDPI AGSustainability2071-10502018-04-01105135210.3390/su10051352su10051352Identifying Farm Pond Habitat Suitability for the Common Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus): A Conservation-Perspective ApproachChun-Hsien Lai0Shin-Hwei Lin1Chia-Yi Tsai2Szu-Hung Chen3Department of Soil and Water Conservation, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung City 402, TaiwanDepartment of Soil and Water Conservation, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung City 402, TaiwanDepartment of Horticulture, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung City 402, TaiwanInternational Master Program of Agriculture, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung City 402, TaiwanThe purpose of this study was to establish a habitat-suitability assessment model for Gallinula chloropus, or the Common Moorhen, to be applied to the selection of the most suitable farm pond for habitat conservation in Chiayi County, Taiwan. First, the fuzzy Delphi method was employed to evaluate habitat selection factors and calculate the weights of these factors. The results showed that the eight crucial factors, by importance, in descending order, were (1) area ratio of farmlands within 200 m of the farm pond; (2) pond area; (3) pond perimeter; (4) aquatic plant coverage of the pond surface; (5) drought period; (6) coverage of high and low shrubs around the pond bank; (7) bank type; and (8) water-surface-to-bank distance. Subsequently, field evaluations of 75 farm ponds in Chiayi County were performed. The results indicated that 15 farm ponds had highly-suitable habitats and were inhabited by unusually high numbers of Common Moorhens; these habitats were most in need of conservation. A total of two farm ponds were found to require habitat-environment improvements, and Common Moorhens with typical reproductive capacity could be appropriately introduced into 22 farm ponds to restore the ecosystem of the species. Additionally, the habitat suitability and number of Common Moorhens in 36 farm ponds were lower than average; these ponds could be used for agricultural irrigation, detention basins, or for recreational use by community residents. Finally, the total habitat suitability scores and occurrence of Common Moorhens in each farm pond were used to verify the accuracy of the habitat-suitability assessment model for the Common Moorhen. The overall accuracy was 0.8, and the Kappa value was 0.60, which indicates that the model established in this study exhibited high credibility. To sum up, this is an applicable framework not only to assess the habitat suitability of farm ponds for Common Moorhens, but also to determine whether a particular location may require the implementation of conservation practices. Furthermore, the findings in this research can provide useful information to all relevant stakeholders involved in the implementation of wildlife-habitat conservation and restoration at farm ponds.http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/5/1352fuzzy Delphi methodKappamatrix analysisTaiwanconservation practice |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Chun-Hsien Lai Shin-Hwei Lin Chia-Yi Tsai Szu-Hung Chen |
spellingShingle |
Chun-Hsien Lai Shin-Hwei Lin Chia-Yi Tsai Szu-Hung Chen Identifying Farm Pond Habitat Suitability for the Common Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus): A Conservation-Perspective Approach Sustainability fuzzy Delphi method Kappa matrix analysis Taiwan conservation practice |
author_facet |
Chun-Hsien Lai Shin-Hwei Lin Chia-Yi Tsai Szu-Hung Chen |
author_sort |
Chun-Hsien Lai |
title |
Identifying Farm Pond Habitat Suitability for the Common Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus): A Conservation-Perspective Approach |
title_short |
Identifying Farm Pond Habitat Suitability for the Common Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus): A Conservation-Perspective Approach |
title_full |
Identifying Farm Pond Habitat Suitability for the Common Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus): A Conservation-Perspective Approach |
title_fullStr |
Identifying Farm Pond Habitat Suitability for the Common Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus): A Conservation-Perspective Approach |
title_full_unstemmed |
Identifying Farm Pond Habitat Suitability for the Common Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus): A Conservation-Perspective Approach |
title_sort |
identifying farm pond habitat suitability for the common moorhen (gallinula chloropus): a conservation-perspective approach |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
Sustainability |
issn |
2071-1050 |
publishDate |
2018-04-01 |
description |
The purpose of this study was to establish a habitat-suitability assessment model for Gallinula chloropus, or the Common Moorhen, to be applied to the selection of the most suitable farm pond for habitat conservation in Chiayi County, Taiwan. First, the fuzzy Delphi method was employed to evaluate habitat selection factors and calculate the weights of these factors. The results showed that the eight crucial factors, by importance, in descending order, were (1) area ratio of farmlands within 200 m of the farm pond; (2) pond area; (3) pond perimeter; (4) aquatic plant coverage of the pond surface; (5) drought period; (6) coverage of high and low shrubs around the pond bank; (7) bank type; and (8) water-surface-to-bank distance. Subsequently, field evaluations of 75 farm ponds in Chiayi County were performed. The results indicated that 15 farm ponds had highly-suitable habitats and were inhabited by unusually high numbers of Common Moorhens; these habitats were most in need of conservation. A total of two farm ponds were found to require habitat-environment improvements, and Common Moorhens with typical reproductive capacity could be appropriately introduced into 22 farm ponds to restore the ecosystem of the species. Additionally, the habitat suitability and number of Common Moorhens in 36 farm ponds were lower than average; these ponds could be used for agricultural irrigation, detention basins, or for recreational use by community residents. Finally, the total habitat suitability scores and occurrence of Common Moorhens in each farm pond were used to verify the accuracy of the habitat-suitability assessment model for the Common Moorhen. The overall accuracy was 0.8, and the Kappa value was 0.60, which indicates that the model established in this study exhibited high credibility. To sum up, this is an applicable framework not only to assess the habitat suitability of farm ponds for Common Moorhens, but also to determine whether a particular location may require the implementation of conservation practices. Furthermore, the findings in this research can provide useful information to all relevant stakeholders involved in the implementation of wildlife-habitat conservation and restoration at farm ponds. |
topic |
fuzzy Delphi method Kappa matrix analysis Taiwan conservation practice |
url |
http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/5/1352 |
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