Breeding seabirds along the Zhejiang coast: diversity, distribution and conservation

The coast of Zhejiang Province has the largest number of islands in China and include some of the more important breeding sites for several seabird species. However, for a long time, there has been no information on the diversity and distribution of species of breeding seabirds on these islands. During the 2003 to 2006 breeding seasons we carried out surveys along the Zhejiang coast on species diversity, population size, distribution of and threats to breeding seabirds. Our results discovered six species, i.e., the Black-tailed Gull (Larus crassirostris), the Greater Crested Tern (Thalasseus bergii), the Roseate Tern (Sterna dougallii), the Black-naped Tern (Sterna sumatrana), the Bridled Tern (Sterna anaethetus) and the Chinese Crested Tern (Thalasseus bernsteini) and a total of 49 colonies breeding on 28 islands. The Jiushan, Zhongjieshan, Beiji, Wuzhishan, Yushan and Taizhou archipelagos hosted the most important sites for breeding seabirds along the Zhejiang coast. At present, most of the islands where seabirds breed are still unprotected. Conservation of breeding sites of seabirds along the Zhejiang coast and throughout China must be strengthened in the future.