Extract only - complete publication at www.jncc.gov.uk/worldwaterbirds
Waterbirds around
the world
A global overview of the conservation,
management and research of the
world's waterbird flyways
Edited by G.C. Boere, C.A. Galbraith and D.A. Stroud
Assisted by L.K. Bridge, I. Colquhoun, D.A. Scott,
D.B.A. Thompson and L.G. Underhill
EDINBURGH, UK: THE STATIONERY OFFICE
Extract only - complete publication at www.jncc.gov.uk/worldwaterbirds
© Scottish Natural Heritage 2006
First published in 2006 by The Stationery Office Limited
71 Lothian Road, Edinburgh EH3 9AZ, UK.
Applications for reproduction should be made to Scottish Natural Heritage,
Great Glen House, Leachkin Road, Inverness IV3 8NW, UK.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 0 11 497333 4
Recommended citation:
Boere, G.C., Galbraith, C.A. & Stroud, D.A. (eds). 2006.
Waterbirds around the world. The Stationery Office, Edinburgh, UK. 960 pp.
Names used for geographical entities do not imply recognition, by the organisers of the Waterbirds around the world conference or other
supporting organisations or governments, of the political status or boundaries of any particular territory. Names of territories used (and
any alternatives) are included solely to help users of this publication apply information contained within this volume for waterbird
conservation purposes. The views expressed in papers included within this volume do not necessarily represent views of the editors
or the organisations and governments that supported the conference and this publication.
Cover photography:
Whooper Swans Cygnus cygnus arriving at Martin Mere, England. Photo: Paul Marshall.
(www.paulmarshallphotography.com)
Copyright of all photographs used in this publication resides with the named photographers.
Waterbirds around the world
The Aral Sea basin: changes in migratory and breeding waterbird
populations due to major human-induced changes to the region’s
hydrology
Elena A. Kreuzberg-Mukhina
Institute of Zoology of Uzbekistan Academy of Science, Niyasov str.-1, Tashkent, 700095, Uzbekistan.
(email: [email protected])
Kreuzberg-Mukhina, E.A. 2006. The Aral Sea basin: changes in migratory and breeding waterbird populations due to major humaninduced changes to the region’s hydrology. Waterbirds around the world. Eds. G.C. Boere, C.A. Galbraith & D.A. Stroud.
The Stationery Office, Edinburgh, UK. pp. 283-284.
Most of Central Asia is located in an arid zone within the inland
drainage area of the Aral Sea basin. In the mountain systems of
Tien-Shan and Pamir-Alai the seasonal thaw of snow and
glaciers, combined with rain, feeds the two biggest rivers, the
Amu Darya and Syr Darya. Between 1960 and 1980 the widespread development of dams and irrigation systems began to
divert substantial amounts of water from the Amu Darya and Syr
Darya rivers for agricultural irrigation, mainly for cotton production, and this has had major ecological impacts of an unparalleled
scale on the Aral Sea and its catchments, including on waterbirds.
The water level of the Aral Sea itself has fallen by 16 m, with
major increases in salinity and drying out much of the former
lake bed and the deltas of the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers.
These ecologically rich deltas, originally wetland habitats rich in
biodiversity, are threatened by desertification and significant
Fig. 1. Decreases in the waterflow into the Amu Darya river into the Aral
Sea 1955-1980. Blue - water flow into the delta (m3. sec-1); red: - total
total area of lakes in delta (km2}
a. Pygmy Cormorant
b. Great White Pelican
c. Marbled Teal
d. Glossy Ibis
Fig. 2. Changes in the breeding and non-breeding distribution of four globally-threatened waterbirds (Pygmy Cormorant Phalacrocorax pygmaeus,
Great White Pelican Pelecanus onocrotalus, Marbled Teal Marmaronetta angustirostris, and Glossy Ibis Plegadis falcinellus). Legend: Green cells are
the past breeding area of species distribution; brown cells are the current breeding area, yellow cells are the non-breeding areas. Bright green cells are
protected areas.
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Waterbirds around the world
loss of waterbird species. These Aral Sea basin wetlands were
very important for breeding colonial waterbirds such as pelicans,
cormorants, herons, egrets, swans and ducks. In the early 1960s
there were approximately 2 600 lakes in the Amu Darya delta
but this had fallen to only 400 by 1985. Decreases in river flows
and delta lake area are shown in Fig. 1. These changes have had
major impacts on the climatic, ecological, economic and social
conditions of the Aral Sea region.
Recognition of these impacts has led to some wetland
restoration efforts (e.g. in the Sudochie wetland). In addition,
many new artificial water-bodies have been created associated
with water management for the 7 million ha of irrigated land.
These include 94 reservoirs and 24 000 km of channels
(Gorelkin 1988, Gorelkin et al. 2002). These new water bodies
have to some extent replaced the functions of the original lake
systems as migratory sites for waterbirds using migratory
flyways from Western Siberia and Kazakhstan to Caspian and
African wintering areas, and are also used as recreational areas
for fishing and hunting by local communities.
However, the loss of wetlands has led to major changes to
the species composition, numbers and distribution of waterbirds.
At the beginning of the 20th century the Aral Sea and its neighbouring territories supported 319 bird species, 179 of which
were nesting (Zarudny 1916, Gladkov 1936, Kostin 1956). By
the early 1970s the number of species had dropped to 168 and
only 32 species were nesting in the coastal strip of the Syr Darya
delta (Gubin 1999). Between 1999 and 2002, during ecological
monitoring of the Sudochie wetland, 230 bird species were
recorded in the Amu Darya deltya. These included 101 waterbird
species, but only 68 species (41 of which were waterbirds) were
recorded nesting (Kreuzberg-Mukhina & Lanovenko 2003).
The wetland systems surrounding the new human-made
waterbodies, such as Aydar-Arnasay lake system, Kairakum,
Chardara, Tudakul, Karakir, Dengizkul, Khadicha reservoirs,
have provided refuges for many migratory waterbirds. Although
some species have attempted breeding in these new wetlands,
breeding success has been relatively poor and waterbird diversity in these new wetlands during summer is generally low.
However, some species have expanded their breeding ranges
southwards along the Amu Darya and Syr Darya river valleys.
Recent surveys of the Aral Sea basin have found waterbirds
gathering in unexpected places, and include the discovery of
new major breeding, moulting and wintering areas for globally
threatened species including White-headed Duck Oxyura leucocephala, Dalmatian Pelican Pelecanus crispus and Pygmy
Cormorant Phalacracorax pygmaeus. Major wintering areas for
Eurasian Crane Grus grus, Greylag Goose Anser anser and
Lesser White-fronted Goose Anser erythropus now occur in the
upper parts of Amu-Darya river on the border between
Uzbekistan and Afghanistan, within newly-irrigated areas.
Despite this, overall there has been a major decline in the
distribution of a number of globally and regionally threatened
waterbirds (Fig. 2).
Lesser White-fronted Geese Anser erythropus now occur in the upper
parts of the Amu-Darya river on the border between Uzbekistan and
Afghanistan. Photo: Paul Marshall.
Department of the Royal Netherlands Embassy in Moscow
(2001-2003), Wetlands International (2003-2004), and INTAS
(2000-2003). Thanks are due to the many specialists, and particularly to Eugenia Lanovenko and Elmurat (ornithological surveys
in Uzbekistan). Elena Bykova, Stiven Ling and Larisa Stogova
secured the compiling of Central Asian database and preparation
of GIS maps for threatened species. Special thanks go to Dr. E.J.
Milner-Gulland who coordinated the INTAS project.
REFERENCES
Gladkov, N.A. 1936. Ecological peculiarities of the Amu Darya
flood lands in relation to inhabiting it ornithological
fauna. In: Questions of ecology and biocenology.
Leningrad. 3: 253-265. (In Russian).
Gorelkin, N.Ye. 1988. Changes in the structure of lakes in the
plain territory of Central Asia under influence of watereconomy constructions. In: Proceedings of the Uzbek
geographical society. Tashkent, “FAN”. V. 14: 25-31. (In
Russian).
Gorelkin, N.Ye., Goroshkov, N.I., Nurbaev, D.D. & Talskykh,
V.N. 2002. Assessment of the state of collectors and
lakes of the right banks of the Amu Darya River. In: The
problems of the deserts development. 2: 49-57. (In
Russian).
Gubin, B.M. 1999. The present state of the North Aral Sea
avifauna and its conservation problem. In: Sustainable
use of Natural Resources of Central Asia. Almaty: 112119. (In Russian).
Kostin, V.P. 1956. Notes on the ornithological fauna of the
lower parts of Amu Darya and Ustyurt. In: Proceedings
of the Institute of Zoology and Parasitology of the
Uzbek Academy of Science. Tashkent. 8: 78-129. (In
Russian).
Kreuzberg-Mukhina, E. & Lanovenko, E. 2003. New goose
wintering site at the Uzbekistan – Afghanistan state
border. In: Management and conservation of waterfowls
populations in Northern Eurasia (with special focus on
White Sea – Baltic Flyway). Book of abstracts,
Petrozavodsk: 204-205.
Zarudny, N.A. 1916. Birds of Aral Sea. In: News of the
Turkestan Department of the Russian Geographical
Society. V. 12. P.1. Tashkent: 1-229. (In Russian).
ACKNOWLEGEMENTS
Water-bird species data gathering in the Aral Sea basin was
conducted with financial support of many international organizations including NABU (German Union of the Nature Protection)
(1995-1998), the Chicago Zoological Society (1995-1997), the
Global Environmental Facility (1999-2002), the Agricultural
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