No | Land cover types | Remarks |
1 | Spartina alterniflora | Alien invasive plant, is distributed across the whole intertidal salt marshes. The patches with large area and high density, are not available habitats for waterbirds, except their outer periphery. |
2 | Sparse Suaeda glauca | Coverage is lower than 40%, which provides breeding habitats for Saunders’s gull, Common Tern, White-fronted Tern and Kentish Plover and so on [36] [38] , and the wintering habitats for Red-crowned crane [39] [40] . |
3 | Dense S. glauca | Coverage is higher than 40%, which provides wintering habitats for Red-crowned crane with condition of food availability [39] [40] . |
4 | Phragmites australis | The dominant plant is P. australis, mixing with Aeluropus littoralis and Imperatacy cylindrical, provides breeding habitats for Reed parrotbill, and Great reed warbler and so on [35] , and also wintering habitats for Red-crowned crane [39] [40] . |
5 | Unvegetated marsh | Bare mudflat and lower land with open water, which provide feeding habitats for breeding and wintering waterbirds. |
6 | Intertidal mudflats | Mudflat between the outer peripheries of S. alterniflora in 2003 and 2008, which provides the feeding habitats in the low tide for migratory waterbirds. |
7 | Tidal channels and river | The river only distributes in the south boundary of study area. The channels and river can provide feeding habitats for egrets, herons and ducks. |
8 | Road | Newly constructed motorbike road in salt marshes, which would increase the human disturbances to waterbirds, and result in the habitat fragmentation. |