National Institute of Ecology

Since 2016, when the Chinese Crested Tern was first discovered in Korea, we have discussed the necessity and methods of installation with domestic and foreign experts in 2017. In 2018, a social attraction system for Chinese Crested Terns was applied to Yuksando. We used about 110 decoys and a sound playback system. It has been installed annually from March to October since 2018. The arrival date of Chinese Crested Terns was slightly earlier, from the end of March in 2018 to the middle of March in 2022. In breeding environments where herbaceous plants are scarce, Black-tailed Gulls as well as Chinese Crested Terns relied on decoys to build their nests and use them as structures to protect their chick. These are likely the positive effects of this social attraction system, even though the change in the population of the arriving CCTs is not large (from 5 in 2016 to 7 after 2018). In addition, we are trying to prevent illegal human intrusions by installing unmanned cameras to conduct research on seabird behavior as well as habitat monitoring. We are also studying the current status of rodent habitats. At present, the rodent population in the breeding grounds appears to be small, but their influence and food sources are being studied.