The Impacts of Severe Drought on Waterbirds: A Case Study for the White-Naped Crane in Poyang Lake Based on Satellite Telemetry

Climate change is leading to more extreme weather like droughts, threatening wetland ecosystem and waterbird populations worldwide. During the winter of 2022–2023, Poyang Lake, China’s largest freshwater lake, experienced its most extreme drought on record. However, the impacts of such droughts on waterbirds remain poorly understood. To assess the ecological consequences on waterbirds, we studied on the White-naped Crane (Antigone vipio). Using GPS transmitters, we tracked 56 individuals and collected 268,615 valid hourly location records from the Poyang Lake region between 2014 and 2023. We analyzed movement patterns during this extreme drought compared to typical winter conditions. The results indicate that, in winter at Poyang Lake, the White-naped Cranes primarily utilized croplands for foraging and shallow water areas for roosting. We found that habitat suitability for White-naped Cranes reached its lowest point during this exceptionally dry winter. Reduced water levels forced the cranes to move much further to seek alternative habitats, especially shallow water areas for nocturnal roosting. These findings underscore that maintaining adequate water level to protect both roosting and foraging habitats at Poyang Lake is a critical conservation priority for sustaining waterbird populations under intensifying climatic extremes.