Pei-Fen Lee Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology National Taiwan University 1 Development and Purposes Biodiversity action plan in Taiwan Committee of Sustainable Development Environmental monitoring Specific wildlife groups Mammal (bat), bird, amphibian, and butterfly 2 Bird Monitoring What? Breeding or migratory species? Where? Spatial coverage When? Efficient and representative How? Standard protocol A comprehensive survey covering entire Taiwan using volunteers on 155 breeding bird species 3 Previous Work or Development Sustainable indicators initiated by EPA Only in design phase, no further survey Biodiversity inventory by Council of Agriculture Only in northern Taiwan 5 years Local sustainable indicators Taipei city (2007- ) 4 Biodiversity Inventory Only 5 year 1999~2003 200 projects Convenient sampling Data records: 0.8 million Most are vegetation (0.55 million) With location info. Not well designed 5 Previous Work or Development Forest bird survey Only last for 2 years New year bird count Only last for 2 years Not well organized Bird inventory by bird societies Comprehensive in spatial scale, but no clear geo-records and no standard sampling protocol 6 BBS in North America •1966 •>7100 •>3000 routes 7 BBS in UK 1994 >2000/yr >3000 sites 8 Single Species Monitoring Cattle Egret in North America Short term: Distribution Summer Long term: changes 1966 till now 9 Summer Visitors’ Population Trend in UK •50% reduction since 1994 •Conservation strategy 10 Sustainable Development Indicators In UK •Ecological monitoring: 50% reduction in farm birds •Biodiversity strategy 11 Indicators for Long-term Monitoring Same location Fixed survey time Long-term survey Proper design to adapt to budget, time and human resources constraints 12 Taiwan Breeding Bird Survey Long-term survey on breeding birds Large spatial scale Standard protocol Aims: ecological monitoring info, sustainable development indicators, distribution change under climate change impact, … Data will open to the public 13 Participants Bird societies Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, National Taiwan University Endemic Species Research Institute (since 2010) 14 Selecting Sampling Sites • Stratified random sampling scheme • Representative of the environment – Ecoregion – Elevation (ecosystems) • Volunteers – Roads available, but avoiding overdeveloped areas 15 Point Count Cumulative species (%) How much time spent in one point: 6 min. 6 min to reach 80% Time (min.) 16 When to conduct survey? 0-5 hrs after sunrise Breeding 繁殖季 season 數相對百分比 Bird detected (%) 100 Noon 80 60 40 20 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Hours after sunrise (hr) 12 17 Sampling Sites (Routes) and Points • Each sites: 6 – 10 points • Point spacing > 200m • Points should be < 4km in length 18 Each Point: 6 min survey time • Identifying the species by sight or sound – avoid double sampling • Recording distance – <25m – 25–100m – >100m – Passing by 火冠 戴菊鳥 0m 金翼白眉 巨嘴鴉 (飛行沒有降落) 煤山雀 25m 100m Which Months? • Twice per breeding season • Consideration of the elevation difference > 2500 m, May & June 1000-2500 m, April & June < 1000 m, March & May Training Lessens Field Training in Different Ecosystems Field Training Field data recording sheet Field data recording sheet Web pages of Taiwan’s BBS Excel format sheet to record survey data Survey data submitted via the Internet Organizations and Volunteers Volunteers: >200 Organization: >20 2009 BBS 160 sites with 1,296 points Cover all major ecosystems 118 volunteers 128 breeding species 202 species, > 90,000 bird records 30 2009-2011: >240 sites 2009 - 2010 All (500 sites) 148 species >90% of breeding bird species (155) in Taiwan >230 species 2009 BBS data Species richness Density (#/ha) 33 2009 BBS data Total Density (#/ha) Average Abundance of Breeding Bird Species of Breeding Bird Species Richness Richness bySpecies Elevation 25 Average Abundance (indv./ha) Richness (Number of Species) 25 20 15 10 5 0 20 15 10 5 0 0 1000 2000 Elevation (m) 3000 4000 0 1000 2000 3000 4000 Elevation (m) 34 Species Population Index (2009-2010) • 36 species Forest type: 26 Grassland type: 10 Population Index (2009=100) Population Index 150 All species Forest type Grassland type 125 Growth? • Breeding birds +15% • Forest birds: +13% • Grassland birds: +22% 100 75 50 2009 2010 2009 BBS data Ranking by total abundance 平均值 物種比例 (隻數/ha) 1 麻雀 1 1.72 10.83% 白頭翁 2 1.35 8.51% 3 紅嘴黑鵯 0.95 5.97% 4 冠羽畫眉 0.82 5.21% 綠繡眼 5 0.74 4.67% 6 繡眼畫眉 0.64 4.05% 烏頭翁 7 0.51 3.25% 8 黃胸藪眉 0.48 3.04% 紅鳩 9 0.45 2.84% 洋燕 10 0.37 2.32% 排名 鳥種 37 Density Pattern of Family Pycnonotidae Black Bulbul Chinese Bulbul Taiwan Bulbul Finch-billed Bulbul Protected species Level II Ring-necked pheasant Common species Bamboo Partridge Exotic species North: Black- throated laughing thrush South: White- rumped Shama Species richness No data Elevation Endemic species richness Protected species richness Rare Species Fairy Pitta Russet Sparrow Black-napped Oriole Maroon Oriole Future of Taiwan BBS A monitoring database Environmental monitoring network Professional researchers Promoting sustainable development under climate change by supplying suitable information for decision-making 44 Volunteers NGO Government & University International cooperation