on behalf of UK’s Avian Population Estimates Panel Statutory organisationsNon-governmental organisations
2011
APEP rôles Co-ordination and collation Waterbirds Birds of prey & single species surveys Terrestrial birds etc. Gamebirds
Process 1.Initiation meeting to discuss issues and timescale 2.Collation of estimates for different species groups by ‘lead’ organisations 3. Collation of draft overall UK assessment by JNCC 4.Meeting(s) to resolve issues that have emerged 5.Drafting assessment 6.Submission and publication
Metadata Scale: Great Britain & United Kingdom Seasons: Breeding + winter (+ passage) Type of survey Units Period Reliability (accuracy) Methods used to derive estimate Published source(s)
Principles As data used is for statutory purposes (conservation case-work) – peer review and audit very important: – only published estimates used (where possible) – no ‘black-boxes’!
APEP 3: current issues Correcting atlas based estimates ( ) using monitoring trend data (1993 – present) - methodologies Past estimates of waders based on incomplete mosaics of ‘real’ census data vs. interpolations from sample counts – which is ‘best’?!
APEP 3: current issues Waterbird surveys count variable proportions of national populations What scaling factors to use for different species to estimate ‘total’ populations? e.g. Red Knot Calidris canutus vs Mallard Anas platyrhynchos
Lessons learnt Provides periodically updated source of estimates for statutory uses – 1% national thresholds for protected areas (SPAs, SSSIs etc.) Provides ‘one-stop shop’ for users Has a resource cost (but not excessive) Logically builds on (and strengthens) pre-existing bird monitoring partnerships between UK statutory and NGO sectors – identifies data deficiencies and helps target further surveys Overall - useful and valuable
Discussion point? Do we need a process to share good approaches / technical understanding for deriving national totals from different types of survey data – Could help avoid reinventing wheels? – ( & accepting different levels of data availability)