Eco-Index: Best Lessons Learned

Best Lessons Learned



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July 2009

Organization(s): Bird Studies Canada; Environment Canada - Canadian Wildlife Service (EC-CWS); Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (OMNR)

Lessons Learned

This project involves a large amount of collaboration between agencies and independent research stations, which increases complexity and coordination, but is imperative given our goal of answering geographically large-scale questions.

Migration monitoring is an effective tool for monitoring population trends of birds that breed in remote northern areas outside the geographic sampling coverage of the Breeding Bird Survey. Population trends of boreal breeding Neotropical songbirds are variable according to species and geographic region, and trend patterns are not distinct from those of temperate migrants.

Broad regional similarities in population trends were supported by positive between-station correlations of annual indices at relatively short interstation distances. However, correlations were zero or even negative beyond about 2,000 km. Furthermore, trends within a region were more similar than trends among regions, with more positive trends in Ontario (spring and fall) and Western (fall) regions, and more negative trends in Prairie (spring and fall) and Eastern (fall) regions.

Taken together across the country, population trends were not affected by migration strategy (temperate vs. Neotropical migrant) or by eco-regional association (boreal vs. non-boreal). Hence, at the national level, roughly equal proportions of Neotropical migrants and temperate migrants were declining or increasing. However, we did see regional differences in these patterns. For example, more species in the Prairie region exhibited negative trends in spring and fall for both Neotropical and temperate migrants (including species breeding in the boreal forest) than other regions of Canada.

Results indicated that migration monitoring is indeed measuring a similar population signal to BBS for species breeding primarily in the south, particularly in spring. However, this relationship breaks down for species breeding primarily north of BBS coverage. By inference, these results further support the notion that migration monitoring can be used to effectively monitor the status of boreal/northern breeding birds where BBS coverage is weak.

Furthermore, scientific advances in migration monitoring are underway, with the development of new analytical approaches and a large collaborative isotope project that will help reveal the geographic origins of birds sampled at migration stop-over sites.

Goals

Create an integrated database management system and compile all count data on spring/fall numbers of migrants at each station in the Canadian Migration Monitoring Network (CMMN) up to and including 2006. Develop data query and analysis tools to streamline data analysis and facilitate annual analysis and reporting. Improve analysis methods, develop precision estimates, and produce station-specific population trend estimates for all species where station coverage is adequate.

Investigate correlations of trend statistics among stations across local and broad geographic regions and investigate correlations with other monitoring programs (e.g. Breeding Bird Survey) where appropriate to further assess the value of CMMN data.

For a target group of at least 20 high-priority, boreal-nesting, Neotropical migratory species, collect feather samples that are representative (geographically and temporally) across Canada, and conduct hydrogen isotope analyses in order to gain a better understanding of the breeding season ranges of migrants sampled at each station.

Raise awareness of the value of the CMMN program among key audiences by:
- Convening a national workshop in the fall of 2007 to obtain input on the desired features of Web-based analytical and reporting tools.
- Discussing follow-up research approaches to examine cause and effect relationships.
- Performing a gap analysis of station coverage.
- Presenting results from the project at the Partners In Flight international meeting in Texas in the winter of 2008.

Interpret trend results and produce technical reports/manuscripts for various key audiences, highlighting conservation applications of monitoring data that are tied to broad geographic regions and habitat guilds.

Post results in publicly accessible and useful formats online. Enable partners and other users to produce customized trend results.