DOI: 10.5061/dryad.kh18932n1
title: Data from: Waterbird diversity patterns under varied hydrological regimes in Dongting Lake and surrounding lakes

description: Globally, climate and human-induced environmental changes affect the
 populations and distributions of most organisms. This is particularly true
 for migratory birds, which change habitats throughout the annual cycle.
 Understanding how waterbirds adapt to environmental change is important
 for their conservation; however, this subject remains largely unexplored.
 Based on wintering waterbirds and environmental data from Dongting Lake
 and its surrounding lakes, we compared the changes in waterbird diversity
 in subregions with different habitat variations during four hydrological
 periods. This allowed us to identify key environmental factors affecting
 waterbird diversity and explore the potential mechanisms by which
 waterbirds adjust to these environmental changes using the waterbird
 habitat patch network method. The results indicated that waterbird
 distribution differed across Dongting Lake and the surrounding wetlands
 under varying hydrological conditions associated with habitat changes.
 Notably, the surrounding lakes with stable habitats served as refuges for
 waterbirds during extreme drought, with the percentage of waterbirds
 increasing from 9.3 % (late recession) to 63.8 % (extreme drought). Areas
 of habitat (i.e., water, mudflat, and vegetation) and human disturbance
 were key factors influencing waterbird diversity. As indicated by the
 β-diversity of the waterbird-habitat patch network, the waterbird
 metacommunity remained relatively stable in terms of spatio-temporal
 differences across hydrological periods, while its components displayed
 distinct patterns. Specifically, the colonisation component dominated
 during extreme drought, whereas the extinction component dominated during
 the late recession. Compared to normal recession, an earlier recession led
 to a higher proportion of colonisation components. Waterbirds migrated
 between habitat patches to adapt to the various hydrological conditions.
 This study enriches the theory of community assembly by emphasising the
 significance of extinction and colonisation processes shaped by
 hydrological conditions. Furthermore, it provides valuable insights into
 the conservation and management of waterbird habitats, highlighting the
 importance of hydrological dynamics and their impact on waterbird
 populations.
description: # Data from: Waterbird diversity patterns under varied hydrological
 regimes in Dongting Lake and surrounding lakes Dataset DOI:
 [10.5061/dryad.kh18932n1](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.kh18932n1) ##
 Description of the data and file structure waterbird data ### Files and
 variables #### File: waterbird_network.xlsx **Description:** waterbird
 presence data ##### Variables * species name and their present sites * The
 four sheets show the occurrence of waterbird species under different
 hydrological regimes. The "extreme_drought" represents extreme
 drought period, "early_recession" represents early recession
 period, "normal_recession" represents normal recession period,
 "late_recession" represents late recession period. #### File:
 functional_groups.xlsx **Description:** the percentage of functional group
 data ##### Variables * sub-regions: EDTL represent East Dongting Lake,
 SDTL represent South Dongting Lake, WDTL represent West Dongting Lake, SLS
 represent Surrounding lakes * functional groups: waterbird functional
 groups * percentage: the percentage of functional groups * hydrological
 regime: ER represen early recession, NR represent normal recession, LR
 represent late recession, ED represent extreme drought ## Access
 information Other publicly accessible locations of the data: * n/a Data
 was derived from the following sources: * field survey