Exploring the Interactions between Waterbird and Aquatic Macroinvertebrate Communities in a Key Stopover Site along the East Asian-Australasian Flyway

Commercial fishpond is a type of human-modified wetland surrounded the Deep Bay Area (DBA) and it is frequently visited by migratory waterbirds as a foraging site during the high tide period. The pond draining process are suggested as a significant way to increase the number of waterbirds visiting the pond. While important wetland habitats in Hong Kong are recognized and protected, such as the Mai Po Nature Reserve, the surrounding fishpond area have experienced a drastic shrunk because of new town development. Hong Kong Bird Watching Society (HKBWS) conducted various long-term monthly bird survey to monitor the change in number of birds in DBA. Lingnan University start studying the environmental parameters that control the macroinvertebrate population that potentially affecting the waterbird population within these human-modified wetland. Kick-net sampling and extra bird surveys have been done in 39 different fishponds to collect macroinvertebrates. Fishpond bird survey data from 2012 to 2016 were analyzed with Generalized linear mixed effect models with log linked function and Poisson error structure. The results reveals the shorebirds are significantly benefited from the extended draining period than other waterbirds and suggested that draining practice in winter could significantly increase the abundance of ardeids and shorebirds in the fishpond while it has no significant effect to attract or scatter diving birds. The understudied aquatic macroinvertebrates community and their correlation with waterbird in fishpond. Future research direction is to identify the habitat-usage of among different waterbirds within fishpond to facilitate better understanding on their preference under different management practices.