Taiwan Breeding Bird Survey: Ecological MonitoringPei-Fen LeeInstitute of Ecology and Evolutionary BiologyNational Taiwan University1Development and PurposesBiodiversity action plan in TaiwanCommittee of Sustainable Development

Environmental monitoringSpecific wildlife groupsMammal (bat), bird, amphibian, and butterfly22Bird MonitoringWhat?Breeding or migratory species?Where?Spatial coverageWhen?Efficient and representativeHow?Standard protocol

A comprehensive survey covering entire Taiwan using volunteers on 155 breeding bird species

3Previous Work or DevelopmentSustainable indicators initiated by EPAOnly in design phase, no further surveyBiodiversity inventory by Council of AgricultureOnly in northern Taiwan5 yearsLocal sustainable indicatorsTaipei city (2007- )4Biodiversity InventoryOnly 5 year19992003200 projectsConvenient samplingData records: 0.8 millionMost are vegetation (0.55 million)With location info.Not well designed5

Previous Work or DevelopmentForest bird surveyOnly last for 2 yearsNew year bird countOnly last for 2 yearsNot well organizedBird inventory by bird societiesComprehensive in spatial scale, but no clear geo-records and no standard sampling protocol

6BBS in North America7

1966>7100>3000 routesBBS in UK8

1994>2000/yr>3000 sitesSingle Species MonitoringCattle Egret in North AmericaShort term: DistributionSummerLong term: changes1966 till now9

Summer Visitors Population Trend in UK10

50% reduction since 1994Conservation strategy

Sustainable Development IndicatorsIn UK11

Ecological monitoring: 50% reduction in farm birdsBiodiversity strategy

Indicators for Long-term MonitoringSame locationFixed survey timeLong-term survey

Proper design to adapt to budget, time and human resources constraints12Taiwan Breeding Bird SurveyLong-term survey on breeding birdsLarge spatial scaleStandard protocolAims: ecological monitoring info, sustainable development indicators, distribution change under climate change impact, Data will open to the public13Bird societies

Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, National Taiwan University

Endemic Species Research Institute (since 2010)

Participants14

Selecting Sampling SitesStratified random sampling schemeRepresentative of the environmentEcoregionElevation (ecosystems)VolunteersRoads available, but avoiding over-developed areas

15Point Count16

Time (min.)Cumulative species (%)6 min to reach 80%How much time spent in one point: 6 min.When to conduct survey?17

Bird detected (%)Hours after sunrise (hr)Noon0-5 hrs after sunriseBreeding seasonSampling Sites (Routes) and PointsEach sites: 6 10 points

Point spacing > 200m

Points should be < 4km in length18

Identifying the species by sight or sound avoid double samplingRecording distance100mPassing by

Each Point: 6 min survey time()100m25m0mWhich Months?Twice per breeding seasonConsideration of the elevation difference

> 2500 m, May & June1000-2500 m, April & June< 1000 m, March & May

Training Lessens

Field Training in Different Ecosystems22

Field Training23

Field data recording sheet

Field data recording sheet

Web pages of Taiwans BBS

Excel format sheet to record survey data

Survey data submitted via the Internet

Organizations and VolunteersVolunteers: >200Organization: >20

292009 BBS160 sites with 1,296 pointsCover all major ecosystems118 volunteers

128 breeding species202 species, > 90,000 bird records

30

2009-2011: >240 sites2009 - 2010All (500 sites)

148 species>90% of breeding bird species (155)in Taiwan

>230 species

2009 BBS data33

Species richness

Density (#/ha)2009 BBS data34

Species Richness by Elevation

Total Density (#/ha)36 speciesForest type: 26Grassland type: 10

Species Population Index (2009-2010)Growth?Breeding birds +15%Forest birds: +13%Grassland birds: +22%Grassland typeForest typeAll species200920105075100125150Population Index (2009=100)Population Index2009 BBS dataRanking by total abundance37/ha11.7210.83%21.358.51%30.955.97%40.825.21%50.744.67%60.644.05%70.513.25%80.483.04%90.452.84%100.372.32%1

ChineseBulbulTaiwanBulbul

BlackBulbulFinch-billedBulbulDensity Pattern of Family Pycnonotidae

Protected speciesLevel IIRing-necked pheasantCommon speciesBamboo PartridgeExotic speciesNorth: Black-throated laughing thrush

South: White-rumped Shama

ElevationSpecies richnessNo data

Endemic species richnessProtected species richnessRare Species

Fairy PittaRusset SparrowBlack-napped OrioleMaroon OrioleFuture of Taiwan BBSA monitoring databaseEnvironmental monitoring networkProfessional researchersPromoting sustainable development under climate change by supplying suitable information for decision-making44

NGOGovernment& UniversityVolunteers

International cooperation