The Black-faced Spoonbill (Platalea minor) is
a critically endangered species. More than 50% of these spoonbills winter
regularly on the southwestern coast of Taiwan. From 2007 to 2019, the rate of
increase of the Black-faced Spoonbill population was only 10.5%, which is lower
than the rate of 12.0% per year reported between 1991 and 2004. Black-faced
Spoonbills have experienced several bottlenecks, and problems may exist in
their breeding and/or in wintering habitats. Understanding the ecological
environment of their habitats in Taiwan is an important issue, including the
current use of water birds, the water depth of their habitats and even the aquatic plants. A total population of 93,614
birds of 88 species was recorded in a survey of the Cigu salt pan from October
2017 to October 2018. The biodiversity H' (loge) of the total birds was 2.67. Dunlin (Calidris
alpina)wasthe most dominant species with a population of 21,053 (22.5%), followed by Kentish Plover (Charadrius alexandrinus) with a
population of 20,350 (21.7%). The largest area of terrain elevation at -1.0 to -0.2 m was 685.4 ha (38.5%) and at -0.2 to -0.1 m was 320.4 ha (18.0%). Between 2017 and 2018, the similarity in water depth
classification was 47.2%, reflecting climate change, a degree of water accumulation, and the
wader utilization situation. A strategy for maintaining biodiversity in
the Cigu salt pan wetland and conserving spoonbills is
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