Food supply in intertidal area for shorebirds during stopover at Chongming Dongtan, China

The wetland in Chongming Dongtan, China is an important stopover site for migratory shorebirds along the East Asian-Australasian Flyway. The high-abundance macrobenthos in Chongming Dongtan allow migratory birds to refuel during the stopover. This study analyzed the distribution and density of macrobenthos in the intertidal zone. Results showed that the macrobenthos mainly consisted of gastropods, bivalves, polychaetes, crustaceans and insect larvae. The density of gastropods [(2805 ± 360) ind./m2] was the highest, accounting for up to 80% of the total macrobenthos density. Meanwhile, bivalves [(51.4 ± 7.8) g/m2] and gastropods [(38.7 ± 5.1) g/m2] together accounted for more than 90% of the total biomass. On the other hand, there were significant differences in the distribution of macrobenthos among different intertidal zones. Gastropods were mainly confined to the Scirpus zones, and bivalves to the outer Scirpus zone and the muddy and sandy flats. In terms of the spatial distribution of density, the gastropod density was higher in the north but lower in the south. However, no significant difference was found in the density and biomass of macrobenthos groups between spring and autumn, except that the density of bivalves in autumn was significantly higher than that in spring (P < 0.001).