Avifauna of Mongol Daguur important bird area in Eastern Mongolia

• Published in: The Korean Journal of Ornithology Vol. 24; no. 2; pp. 13 - 23
• Main Authors: Ganbold, Onolragchaa, Bing, Gi-Chang, Paik, In-Hwan, Purevee, Erdenetushig, Munkhbayar, Munkhbaatar, Jargalsaikhan, Ariunbold, Paek, Woon Kee
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 한국조류학회 31.12.2017; 한국조류학회II
• Subjects: 생물학; steppe fire; threats; important Bird Area (IBA); diversity; migratory birds
• ISSN: 1225-9179; 2586-6893
• DOI: 10.30980/KJO.2017.12.24.2.13

The Mongol Daguur Steppe was established within the Mongolian Protected Areas Network as a Strictly Protected Area in 1992. The steppe is considered one of the world’s outstanding biological ecoregions and Mongol Daguur supports several globally threatened species. The Mongol Daguur Steppe’s avifauna remains poorly investigated, despite some research over the past two centuries. Foreign scientists, especially Russians, conducted studies on the basic avifauna of the reserve (indeed, all of Mongolia) in the 19th and 20th Centuries. We collected data on bird species and the threats in the Mongol Daguur Important Bird Area (IBA; MNO66) for 9 days, consisted of 3 days from May, July and Septemer of 2016. Our avifauna study in the area covered 13 small to moderate sized lakes. A total of 111, 65, and 90 species were recorded in May, July, and September, respectively. The most dominant species were the Common Shelduck Tadorna tadorna, with 3,452 individuals in 33 groups; the Common Pochard Aythya ferina with 2,161 counted birds in 11 groups, and the Swan Goose Anser cygnoides, with 643 counted birds in 19 groups. The prolonged drought was strongly affected for drying out of small salty lakes in our study sites, 3 totally dried out lakes were recorded. In addition, poor to moderate strength of impact from livestock husbandry at the wetlands. KCI Citation Count: 0