This study investigates the role of Junam Reservoir and its surrounding paddy fields as a habitat for migratory birds by considering how different scenarios of habitat loss may affect their populations. It will focus on wintering Anatidae species and take advantage of the population data available for Junam Reservoir and adjacent agricultural fields to analyze habitat-use and dependency patterns. A Bayesian regression model was fitted to estimate the relative dependency at each reservoir and paddy field for each bird species. Network analysis was used to assess the interaction structure and connectivity between habitats and bird species. Furthermore, habitat loss scenarios were simulated in order to predict the outcome of reservoir-paddy field loss on the populations of birds. Among these species, the reservoir loss was much more critical for those highly dependent on reservoirs, such as bean goose, Anser fabalis, and Whooper swan, Cygnus cygnus, but the loss of paddy fields became much more vital for those with higher dependence on paddy fields, such as Baikal teal, Anas formosa. Species that depended on both types of habitats, such as the white-naped crane (Antigone vipio) and the hooded crane (Grus monacha), had additive impacts and suffered the most significant population decline when both reservoirs and paddy fields were lost simultaneously. Network analysis demonstrated that both reservoirs and paddy played equally critical roles in the central nodes of the migratory bird species habitat network and acted as important connectors along migration routes. It is exemplary of the need to develop landscape-level means of maintaining migratory birds and ecosystem stability through the incorporation of ecological connectivity between paddy fields and reservoirs and vice-versa. This stresses integrated management relevant for the entire habitat network rather than single-site focused management, a call for multifaceted conservation efforts, securing of alternative habitats, and restoration of degraded habitats.

The current study explored the movement characteristics of 14 migratory bird species that wintered in the Republic of Korea between 2014 and 2020. The migratory bird movement information was obtained via a global positioning system operated by the Korean government. The velocity of movement, number of clusters, and size of clusters of the migratory bird species during their movement from their departing country to the Republic of Korea were estimated by applying a method based on density-based spatial clustering of applications with noise. The average movement velocity of pintails (Anas acuta) that departed from China or Russia was 32.77 km/h, the highest velocity among those measured for the 14 migratory bird species. The average number of clusters for cinereous vultures (Aegypius monachus) was 43.00, which was the largest cluster number observed. However, herring gulls (Larus argentatus) had the largest cluster area with an average cluster radius of 27.43 km while wintering in the Republic of Korea. The findings of the current study could be useful in increasing the effectiveness of the Korean national highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) surveillance program. The human and material resources of the HPAI surveillance could be allocated after considering the results of this study, revealing the movement characteristics of wintering migratory birds in Korea. The HPAI surveillance program should include fecal or swab sampling to detect the HPAI virus in both pintail and bean goose (Anser faballis) wintering sites. Sampling of those sites should have a higher priority than that for other migratory bird wintering sites since pintail and bean goose move faster and form larger clusters.