INCOWA

Investigating and predicting the possible collapse of waterbird migration networks in Asia (INCOWA)

Programme aim: Analyse the performance of networks of wetlands, in which individual wetlands are nodes in a network of moving and migrating waterbirds, by investigating the functioning and dysfunctioning of individual wetlands for providing food and shelter to waterbirds during the winter and during spring and autumn migration, with the aim to be able to predict the imminent collapse of a migration network collapse, and to provide remedial advice. An ancillary aim is to use genomics for assessing biodiversity in wetlands. The programme will be making use of different scientific methodologies, such as mathematical modelling, remote sensing, genomics and (human) geography.

Programme Partners: Dr. Yali Si and Prof. Peng Gong from Centre for Earth System Science (CESS), Tsinghua University (PR China), and Dr. Fred de Boer and Prof. Herbert H.T. Prins from Resource Ecology Group (REG), Wageningen University (the Netherlands)

Programme duration: 2016 – 2022

PhD Candidates: Yanjie Xu (2016-2020) “Seasonal migration networks of East Asian waterfowl”. (Potentially another two candidates this year)

Spring and autumn migration routes of 4 Greater white-fronted Geese tracked in 2015
Spring and autumn migration routes of 4 Greater white-fronted Geese tracked in 2015
Chinese team capture waterbirds and attach transmitters in Poyang Lake (from left to right: Yali Si, Jie Wei, Yanjie Xu, Wenyuan Zhang)
Chinese team capture waterbirds and attach transmitters in Poyang Lake (from left to right: Yali Si, Jie Wei, Yanjie Xu, Wenyuan Zhang)