The global population of the critically endangered Chinese crested tern has more than doubled thanks to a historic, decade-long collaboration among Oregon State University researchers and scientists and conservationists in China, Taiwan and Japan.
The project included OSU’s Dan Roby and Don Lyons and was led by Chen Shuihua of the Zhejiang Museum of Natural History. When it began, fewer than 50 of the seabirds remained.
“The species is still far from being safe from extinction, but the population is now well over 100 adults and the future is much brighter than 10 years ago,” said Roby, professor emeritus in the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife in the College of Agricultural Sciences.
Findings were published in Biological Conservation.
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Image: Chinese crested tern. (Credit: Dan Roby, OSU)