Key coastal landscape structures for resilient coastal green infrastructure to enhance the abundance of migratory birds on the Yellow Sea

Highlights: • Abundance of migratory birds in the Yellow Sea has decreased due to rapid urbanization and increased natural hazards. • Coastal habitats for migratory birds should be managed through an integrated approach taking into account various land use. • The coastal green infrastructure planning based on resilience strategies could provide healthy habitats for migratory birds. The aim of this study was to investigate the key landscape structures of migratory bird habitats that affect abundance of migratory birds to promote resilient coastal green infrastructure planning on the Yellow Sea coast. We classified coastal areas into four watersheds of South Korea and conducted multivariate regression analysis between migratory bird populations and landscape structures including total class area (CA), patch area distribution (MN), patch density (PD), and edge density (ED). At the national level, sandbank MN, sandbank CA, water ED, and grasslands were derived as key landscape structures affecting the abundance of migratory birds. At the watershed level, key landscape structures were determined as follows: Urban area_MN for the Han River watershed, rice paddy MN for the Asan watershed, rice paddy CA for Saemangeum, and grassland MN for the Youngsan River watershed. Considering the multifunctionality, redundancy, and connectivity of the resilience strategy, we provide specific coastal infrastructure planning recommendations at the national and watershed scales.