Number of flamingos vs. water level and salinity in Lake Urmia, Iran

Flamingos (Phoenicopterus roseus) are one of the most prominent bird species of Lake Urmia, which use the islands of the lake for breeding and feed extensively on Artemia (Asem et al., 2014). Since flamingos comprise both a winter migratory population and a local breeding population (Asem et al., 2014), they are dependent on the abundance of Artemia and thus the level and salinity of the lake. In the UNDP-GEF project for Conservation of Iranian Wetlands, flamingos were selected as an indicator bird species of the lake biodiversity(DOE and UNDP, 2009). Flamingos may choose other food items in brackish/freshwater wetlands when Artemia populations are insufficient (Johnson and Cezily, 1975). This data contains the flamingo counts in both Lake Urmia and the Gharahgheshlagh wetland, the largest brackish wetland at the south part of the lake. Bird count usually is carried out annually in late January. We linked the sum counts of flamingos in Lake Urmia and the Gharahgheshlagh wetland with the lake water level.

火烈鸟（Phoenicopterus roseus）是乌尔米亚湖最为显赫的鸟类种群之一，它们在湖泊的岛屿上繁衍生息，并广泛以桡足类（Artemia）为食（Asem 等人，2014年）。鉴于火烈鸟群体既包括冬季迁徙种群，又包括本地繁殖种群（Asem 等人，2014年），它们对桡足类的丰富程度，进而对湖泊的水位和盐度水平具有依赖性。在联合国开发计划署-全球环境基金（UNDP-GEF）的伊朗湿地保护项目中，火烈鸟被选为湖泊生物多样性的指示性鸟类种群（DOE 和 UNDP，2009年）。当桡足类数量不足时，火烈鸟可能会在咸淡水湿地中选择其他食物来源（Johnson 和 Cezily，1975年）。本数据集包含了乌尔米亚湖和加拉哈赫什拉格湖（位于湖南部最大的咸淡水湿地）的火烈鸟计数。鸟类计数通常在每年的晚一月进行。我们将乌尔米亚湖和加拉哈赫什拉格湖的火烈鸟总数与湖泊水位相联系。