| Organized by: | North American Ornithological Atlas Committee (NORAC) | |
| Contacts: | Mike Cadman, Charles M Francis and Jose Salguero | |
| Date & Time: | Monday, 2 October 2006, 9:00 – 17:00 | |
| Location: | Hotel Galeria, Veracruz BR-Salon A |
Participants:This workshop is open to anybody with an interest in developing, promoting or understanding the uses of bird atlases within the Americas.
Background information and a detailed agenda are given below:
Description: Breeding bird atlases were originally established to map the breeding distribution of birds in a region by dividing the area into a grid (e.g., 10 x 10 km squares) and then systematically searching every square, or a sample of them, to determine what species are breeding there. Since then, many regions have repeated their atlas (e.g., 20 years later), thus obtaining valuable monitoring information on changes in bird populations over time. Many atlases have incorporated quantitative sampling methods such as timed area searches or point counts to map relative abundance and improve change estimates. Other atlases have considered birds outside of the breeding season.
In North America, the first breeding bird atlases were carried out in the early 1980s. The North American Ornithological Atlas Committee (NORAC) was formed to promote development of breeding bird atlases throughout North America and to help standardize data collection methods, data coding, etc. In 1990, the committee published a Handbook for Atlasing North American Breeding Birds (available on the NORAC web site: http://www.bsc-eoc.org/norac/atlascont.htm). The committee has continued to meet every few years since then.
Recently, there have been many new innovations in bird atlasing, including web-based data management, use of point counts (and other approaches) to quantify abundance, development of improved training materials for atlassers (e.g. bird song training guides), and incorporation of habitat based sampling. Several regions, including Ontario, New York, Maryland, and Alberta have recently completed, or nearly completed, a second atlas, leading to new approaches to analyze atlas data. These include trying to understand relationships between effort and detection probabilities, estimating bird population change between atlases, modeling relative abundance within an atlas region, and assessment of bird-habitat relationships. These analyses have also highlighted some weaknesses in the way atlas data have traditionally been collected, leading to recommendations on improved ways to collect atlas data.
Particularly when they are repeated, bird atlases have proven to be an extremely valuable tool for mapping bird distributions and monitoring spatial and temporal change in abundance. They are also extremely valuable for engaging the public in bird monitoring and conservation and building up the base of trained birders to participate in these types of projects.
With increased interest in hemispheric bird conservation programs throughout the Americas, it is timely to consider the role of bird atlases for bird monitoring in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The major objectives of the workshop are to:
Posters: Atlas projects are invited to bring paper posters (i.e, not laminated) for taping to the walls of the room. For perusal during breaks and lunch.
| 9:00 – 9:10 am | Welcome and Introductions | |
| 9:10 – 9:40 am | Session 1. Introduction to atlassing in North America. Charles Francis, Chair | |
| 9:10 – 9:25 am | Overview of atlas and other activities to map bird distributions in U.S./Canada, including a brief history of NORAC – Mike Cadman | |
| 9:25 – 9:40 am | Applications of Atlas data in bird conservation. – Chan Robbins. | |
| 9:40 – 10:40 am | Session 2. Aspects of running a second atlas. Mike Cadman, Chair | |
| 9:40 – 9:55 am | Dealing with different effort between first and second atlases – Pete Blancher | |
| 9:55 – 10:10 am | Use of point counts to quantify abundance – Charles Francis | |
| 10:10 – 10:25 am | Development of improved training materials for atlassers (e.g. bird song training guides) - Charles Francis | |
| 10:25 – 10:40 am | Discussion | |
| 10:40 – 11:00 am | Refreshment Break | |
| 11:00 – Noon | Session 3. Standardizing data collection. Chair, Chris Elphick | |
| 11:00 – 11:15 am | Standardization of data collection and coding - Mike Cadman | |
| 11:15 -11:30 am | Data quality control and database documentation (metadata) - Mark Wimer | |
| 11:30 – Noon | Discussion and next steps. Includes a discussion of whether NORAC wishes to make recommendations re standards for abundance data collection in North America. | |
| Noon – 1:00 pm | Lunch | |
| 1:00 -2:00 pm | Session 4: Data management systems - Mark Wimer, Chair | |
| 1:00 – 1:15 pm | Archiving data and comparisons between atlases - Mark Wimer | |
| 1:15 – 1:30 pm | Cornell Lab of Ornithology – tie in to e-bird - Jeff Gerbracht | |
| 1:30 – 1:45 pm | Bird Studies Canada - Web-based data management (including scannable forms and web-based data entry) - Denis Lepage | |
| 1:45 – 2:00 pm | Discussion |
| 2:00 – 3:00 pm | Session 5: Bird distribution and abundance projects in Latin America and the Caribbean - José Salguero, Chair | |
| 2:00 – 2:20 pm | Overview - José Salguero | |
| 2:20 – 2:40 pm | The Puerto Rico Atlas - José Salguero | |
| 2:40 – 3:00 pm | Atlassing in the Caribbean – Rick West | |
| 3:00 – 4:30 pm | Session 6: The potential for developing Breeding Bird Atlases in Latin America and the Caribbean – a discussion forum - José Salguero, Chair | |
|
||
| 4:30 – 5:00 pm | Session 7: NORAC Business session Election of officers Discussion of the future of NORAC. |
TOP | PRIVACY POLICY | COPYRIGHT © 2005 NAOC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.