After the smooth cordgrass Spartina alterniflora invaded coastal China, native birds started avoiding the green desert, and bird diversity declined. After many years, a few passerine birds began to enter and use smooth cordgrass, but only birds with a nonspecialised habitat. In this study, we found that a native reed‐specific bird, the parrotbill Calamornis heudei, flocked and sang in a smooth cordgrass habitat throughout the overwintering period near Sheyang Port in Yancheng, Jiangsu Province. This observation suggests that native obligate birds may be forced to adapt to exotic smooth cordgrass habitats after long‐term coexistence, which would, obviously, affect the distribution, feeding and reproduction of birds. The concern is that this could be an ecological trap, leading to unknown consequences. More research is required to examine the process occurring along the Chinese coast.

Tiaozini, the core area of the Yellow (Bohai) Sea Migratory Bird Habitat in Dongtai, Jiangsu Province and a World Heritage Site, has provided an ideal habitat for migratory birds. As an important hub on the East Asian–Australasian Flyway (EAAF), Tiaozini Wetland provides pivotal stopover and wintering sites for tens of thousands of migratory waterbirds, including some global critically endangered species, such as Spoon-billed Sandpiper (Calidris pygmaea) and Spotted Greenshank (Tringa guttifer). Although many researchers have conducted a lot of studies on waterbirds in Tiaozini Wetland, there is still a lack of a dataset on waterbird species composition and individual quantity in Tiaozini Wetland throughout the year. Here, we conducted a one-year waterbird survey in the Tiaozini Wetland during 2020-2021 and provided an occurrence dataset with detailed species and geographic information. This occurrence dataset is the first public record of species and number of waterbirds in Tiaozini Wetland for a whole year, which includes the taxonomic information, location information, number, investigation date and endangered level for each species. All data have been published on GBIF.

Hongze Lake is China’s fourth largest freshwater lake and is also an important habitat for hundreds of thousands of migratory birds on the East Asian-Australian Flyway (EAAF). Sihong Hongze Lake Wetlands National Nature Reserve is located on the northwest of Hongze Lake, Sihong County, Jiangsu Province. The Reserve is a protected large area of natural lake wetlands, marsh wetlands and riverine wetlands and used as a stopover and wintering habitats for migratory birds. Previous studies have conducted bird diversity and temporal-spatial variation in this Reserve, but only for species of Anseriformes. There is still a lack of a comprehensive dataset on the number of bird species and individuals in this Reserve throughout the year. Our study was conducted from July 2020 to June 2021 to observe bird species composition and individual numbers at Sihong Hongze Lake Wetlands National Nature Reserve and provides an occurrence dataset with detailed species and geographic information. This occurrence dataset is the first public record of birds in Sihong Hongze Lake Wetlands National Nature Reserve for a whole year, which includes the taxonomic information, location information, number, investigation date and endangered level for each species. All data have been published on GBIF.

The Neotropical cichlid genus Apistogramma represents one of the most taxonomically diverse and ecologically significant groups of South American freshwater fishes, yet its evolutionary history and species boundaries remain poorly understood due to a lack of comprehensive genomic resources. To address this gap, this study investigated the complete mitogenomic characteristics of six representative Apistogramma species (A. agassizii, A. allpahuayo, A. baenschi, A. nijsseni, A. resticulosa, and A. cacatuoides) to establish a robust molecular framework for species identification and phylogenetic reconstruction. The results showed that Apistogramma mitogenomes are highly conserved. All six Apistogramma species exhibited significant AT bias. Selection pressure analysis revealed that the Ka/Ks ratios for all 13 protein-coding genes were between 0 and 1, indicating that these genes were under purifying selection. Differential site analysis identified nad5, cox1, and nad4 as ideal molecular markers for rapid Apistogramma species identification owing to higher proportions of variable sites. Phylogenetic analysis recovered Apistogramma as a strongly supported monophyletic clade (BP = 100, PP = 1.00), within which A. nijsseni clustered with A. baenschi and A. cacatuoides with A. agassizii. These internal phylogenetic relationships are consistent with the calculated genetic distances and previous morphological groupings. These findings provide an important theoretical basis and data support for rapid species identification, genetic evolutionary research, and divergence time estimation within Apistogramma.

Hongze Lake is China’s fourth largest freshwater lake and is also an important habitat for hundreds of thousands of migratory birds on the East Asian-Australian Flyway (EAAF). Sihong Hongze Lake Wetlands National Nature Reserve is located on the northwest of Hongze Lake, Sihong County, Jiangsu Province. The Reserve is a protected large area of natural lake wetlands, marsh wetlands and riverine wetlands and used as a stopover and wintering habitats for migratory birds. Previous studies have conducted bird diversity and temporal-spatial variation in this Reserve, but only for species of Anseriformes. There is still a lack of a comprehensive dataset on the number of bird species and individuals in this Reserve throughout the year. Our study was conducted from July 2020 to June 2021 to observe bird species composition and individual numbers at Sihong Hongze Lake Wetlands National Nature Reserve and provides an occurrence dataset with detailed species and geographic information. This occurrence dataset is the first public record of birds in Sihong Hongze Lake Wetlands National Nature Reserve for a whole year, which includes the taxonomic information, location information, number, investigation date and endangered level for each species. All data have been published on GBIF.

Tiaozini, the core area of the Yellow (Bohai) Sea Migratory Bird Habitat in Dongtai, Jiangsu province and a World Heritage Site, has provided an ideal habitat for migratory birds. As an important hub on the East Asian–Australasian Flyway (EAAF), Tiaozini wetland provide pivotal stopover and wintering sites for tens of thousands of migratory waterbirds, including some global critically endangered species such as Spoon-billed Sandpiper (Calidris pygmaea) and Spotted Greenshank (Tringa guttifer). Although many researchers have conducted a lot of studies on waterbirds in Tiaozini wetland, there is still lack of a dataset on waterbird species composition and individual quantity in Tiaozini wetland throughout the year. Here, we conducted a one-year waterbird survey in the Tiaozini wetland during 2020-2021, and provided an occurrence dataset with detailed species and geographic information. This occurrence dataset is the first public record of species and number of waterbirds in Tiaozini Wetland for a whole year, which include the taxonomic information, location information, number, Investigation date and endangered level for each species. All data have been published on GBIF.