Abstract:

A survey on current waterbirds community was conducted at Gengga Lake of Qinghai from April to November of 2010. This study was to establish waterbird baseline information for the surveillance of avian influenza and the wetland conservation and management at Genga Lake. A total of 27 416 individuals of 55 waterbird species, belonging to 12 families and 6 orders, were recorded in the survey. Geese and ducks were the most abundant species, accounted for 69.0% of all waterbirds counted. There were over 12 000 waterbirds in October, with the most per month, and there was no significant difference in waterbird number among the other months. There were about 21-29 species per month from April to November. There were fewer feeding sites for geese and ducks in April due to the ice coverage at some areas of the lake, which might result in the some waterbirds deaths due to lack of food. Thousands of waterbirds often aggregated at resting and feeding areas in October, and many livestock often mixed with the wild fowls, increasing opportunity for infection of avian influenza among intra-and inter-species. Thus, April and October were the important periods for avian influenza surveillance.

Key words: waterbird, community, diversity, Gengga Lake, Qinghai