Intertidal mudflats and the conservation of migratory shorebirds
type: CreativeWork
description: Migratory shorebirds rely on intertidal habitats that are increasingly threatened by habitat loss, human disturbance, and climate change. Investigating habitat availability, its influence on shorebird populations and how to prioritise conservation efforts is critical to inform conservation interventions. In this thesis, I integrate remote-sensing, local shorebird population surveys, high-resolution shorebird tracking, citizen science bird count data, and site prioritisation procedures to address key knowledge gaps in shorebird habitat use, population estimation and site prioritisation across tropical Asia. In Chapters 2 and 3, I developed a framework to map mean tidal flat exposure duration per tide cycle using satellite imagery and global tide models, providing the first large-scale assessment of intertidal habitat availability in Bangladesh. My findings revealed substantial variation in tidal flat exposure among sites and between two successive boreal winters for the same sites. Shorebird abundance was positively correlated with the extent of mudflats with intermediate duration of exposure per tide cycle. This approach may allow intertidal foraging areas critical for conservation to be identified more accurately. Building on these habitat assessments, Chapter 4 tackled the challenge of estimating shorebird populations across vast coastal landscapes. By comparing stratified random sampling and regression modelling, I demonstrated that stratified sampling produced more precise estimates of total shorebird populations in coastal Bangladesh, while regression models tended to overestimate numbers, particularly for species with many zero-counts per 5-km grid cell. These refinements improve monitoring accuracy and provide a robust basis for conservation planning. In Chapter 5, I examined shorebird habitat preferences by linking densities of shorebird species to mean tidal flat exposure duration per cycle and prey availability. Shorebirds consistently preferred areas expo…
abstract: Migratory shorebirds rely on intertidal habitats that are increasingly threatened by habitat loss, human disturbance, and climate change. Investigating habitat availability, its influence on shorebird populations and how to prioritise conservation efforts is critical to inform conservation interventions. In this thesis, I integrate remote-sensing, local shorebird population surveys, high-resolution shorebird tracking, citizen science bird count data, and site prioritisation procedures to address key knowledge gaps in shorebird habitat use, population estimation and site prioritisation across tropical Asia. In Chapters 2 and 3, I developed a framework to map mean tidal flat exposure duration per tide cycle using satellite imagery and global tide models, providing the first large-scale assessment of intertidal habitat availability in Bangladesh. My findings revealed substantial variation in tidal flat exposure among sites and between two successive boreal winters for the same sites. Shorebird abundance was positively correlated with the extent of mudflats with intermediate duration of exposure per tide cycle. This approach may allow intertidal foraging areas critical for conservation to be identified more accurately. Building on these habitat assessments, Chapter 4 tackled the challenge of estimating shorebird populations across vast coastal landscapes. By comparing stratified random sampling and regression modelling, I demonstrated that stratified sampling produced more precise estimates of total shorebird populations in coastal Bangladesh, while regression models tended to overestimate numbers, particularly for species with many zero-counts per 5-km grid cell. These refinements improve monitoring accuracy and provide a robust basis for conservation planning. In Chapter 5, I examined shorebird habitat preferences by linking densities of shorebird species to mean tidal flat exposure duration per cycle and prey availability. Shorebirds consistently preferred areas expo…
author: Chowdhury, Sayam
language: eng
keywords: shorebirds, migration, tidal flat, conservation, population trends, migratory species, protected area, coastal area
license: https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/bitstreams/719d21f9-c696-4f06-9835-75c61a2227f8/download
license: http://purl.org/NET/rdflicense/allrightsreserved
date published: 2025-03-28
date modified: 2026-07-22T22:24:14Z
provider: Cambridge University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Cambridge

PropertyValue
property ID: DOI
value: 10.17863/CAM.121333