the first southern african bird atlas - Percy FitzPatrick Institute of ...

2 South African Journal of Science 104, Month 2008 Research in Actionponent of the analysis. 7 Of the seveneventually chosen, because they weresufficiently comprehensive, one was theSABAP database. Another was the frogatlas database, which we discuss below.Two publications of direct importanceto the national and regional conservationof birds are The Important Bird Areas ofSouthern Africa 8 and the Eskom Red DataBook of Birds of South Africa, Lesotho andSwaziland. 9 Both of these analyses drewheavily on information in the SABAPdatabase.Among macro-ecologists, local andinternational interest in the SABAP databasehas led to an impressive list ofpublications which acknowledge SABAPas a source of essential data. These includepapers on the impact of specific localenvironmental trends on birds, 10–12 theoreticalapproaches to reserve selection, 13–18and analyses of macro-ecological andbiogeographical phenomena and concepts.19–29 (For a list, currently of 50 publicationsusing the SABAP database, see theADU website at www.aviandemographyunit.org.) In particular, the use of bird atlasdata combined with focused field surveysof threatened or endemic species hasallowed the estimation of populationsizes, strengthening the link betweenatlasing and red-listing processes inbiodiversity conservation. 19By 2006, eight postgraduate studentshad completed theses based on analysesof the SABAP database. 29–36 These studentswere at five universities (three in SouthAfrica and two in the U.K.), and exploredthe database from a variety of disciplinesand perspectives, further emphasizing itsrichness.Birders and landowners have occasionallyaccessed bird atlas data to use as aguide to birding in specific areas, andfor the development of eco-tourismmaterials. These uses were, however,discouraged to some extent by the initialapplication of data-extraction fees. Weexpect that these types of use will increasenow that the bird atlas data are increasinglyavailable online, free of charge atwww.birds.sanbi.org and www.aviandemographyunit.orgPublic awareness and participationThe impact of SABAP on public awarenessof birds and their attendant conservationissues has not been measuredacross society, nor would it be easy to doso. Nevertheless, there is unanimitywithin birding, ornithology and conservationcircles that SABAP had an enormousinfluence on birders and others in SouthAfrica and beyond. There were more than5000 direct contributors to SABAP. Inaddition to these, many citizens wereaware of the project, especially rural landowners,who frequently allowed atlasersto explore their properties. This awarenesson the part of landowners aloneprobably had a salutary effect on theirsense of their role as stewards of theregion’s biodiversity.Many birders testify that atlasing became,for them, a more rewarding form oftheir hobby because it had a clear and alarger purpose. Both the concept and theactivities of the atlas helped them to seebirds and their hobby in the context ofbroader ecological issues. The need toidentify species positively so that onecould record as many as possible in gridcells – the sampling units of the atlas – becamea strong incentive to hone identificationskills. The imperative to recordcomprehensive lists of species encourageda greater awareness of species’preferred habitats because it would be inthose habitats that the species were likelyto be observed and ‘ticked’.Since SABAP, there has been a quantumleap in skill and professionalism amongthe rank and file of amateur birders,making them an even more valuablehuman resource for data collection thanthey were before. This bodes well forSABAP2.Perhaps the greatest positive influenceof the atlas on the birding community wasits demonstration that even amateurbirders – as opposed to specialist birdringers and ornithologists – could make asignificant contribution to science, indeed,that they could become ‘citizenscientists’. Not only did the simple yetscientific methods of SABAP give manybirders a first introduction to how scienceworks, but the scientific output from theproject showed how small contributionscould be amalgamated into a meaningfuland impressive whole. This new perceptionof their role as citizen scientistshelped many birders make the transitionfrom the relatively straightforward activityof atlasing to the more challengingrequirements of bird monitoring projects.It was this pool of available skill andenthusiasm that the Avian DemographyUnit and BirdLife South Africa tappedinto by launching, in chronological order,Coordinated Waterbird Counts (CWAC),the Birds in Reserves Project (BIRP),and Coordinated Avifaunal Roadcounts(CAR). 37 These three projects are ongoingand have each accumulated more that 10years of invaluable biodiversity monitoringdata.Further atlases and a new eraBeyond bird-related projects, the successof SABAP provided encouragement toother specialists that comparable projectscould be successfully organized for theirtaxon groups, and that they could bring totheir disciplines the benefits of such abroad-scope survey. The Protea AtlasProject (1991–2001) was the first to belaunched, followed by the SouthernAfrican Frog Atlas Project (SAFAP; 1995–2004) 38 and, more recently, the SouthernAfrican Reptile Conservation Assessment(SARCA; 2005–09) and South AfricanNational Survey of Arachnida (SANSA;1997– ). To be launched soon is a new atlasproject on butterflies, the Southern AfricanButterfly Conservation Assessment(SABCA; 2007–10).All of these projects are closely linked tothe recent transformation of South Africa’sNational Botanical Institute (NBI) into theSouth African National BiodiversityInstitute (SANBI). 39 Through partnershipsbetween the Avian DemographyUnit and other specialist institutionswith SANBI, these atlases will contributeessential biodiversity information to helpSANBI monitor and report to governmenton the state of biodiversity in the country.SANBI is the lead organization implementingthe National EnvironmentalManagement: Biodiversity Act (NEMBA),as well as supporting government in implementingthe Convention on BiologicalDiversity (CBD). To do this most quickly,SANBI has prioritized the online publicationof essential biodiversity data, such asatlas information, to support planning,policy-making, decision making and researchby a variety of users. These activitiesinclude sound spatial developmentplanning, state-of-the-environment reporting,and conservation planningbased on the prediction and detection ofresponses by species and ecosystems toenvironmental change.Collectively, the atlas projects representa new era in biodiversity field research inthe region.A new bird atlas project, SABAP2, waslaunched in 2007. While predictions arerisky, we venture to predict that SABAP2will eclipse SABAP1 in terms of scientificimpact. SABAP2 will be the first time inAfrica that a survey of this magnitude hasbeen repeated, and in principle presents aunique opportunity to compare majorbiodiversity data sets as ‘snapshots’ ofdifferent time periods. Given the intenseinterest in global environmental changeand the impacts of human society onecosystems and biodiversity, the results ofSABAP1 and SABAP2 are guaranteed to

Research in Action South African Journal of Science 104, Month 2008 3be thoroughly explored. The challenge ofachieving comparability between thetwo, while moving to finer-scale spatialresolution in SABAP2, is not trivial, but weare confident that it will be amply worththe effort and cost. We expect SABAP2 tohelp reveal and document trends in birdpopulations and to suggest a slew of newhypotheses on their causes. If we becondemned to live through ‘interestingtimes’, let us at least extract all the scientificvalue from them that we can!The authors acknowledge the inspiring efforts ofthousands of citizen scientists and congratulate themon their contributions to southern African biodiversityresearch. L.G.U. acknowledges supportfrom the Sea and Coast II Programme of the NRF.1. Harrison J.A. (1992). The Southern African BirdAtlas Project databank: five years of growth. S. Afr.J. Sci. 88, 410–413.2. Harrison J.A., Allan D.G., Underhill L.G.,Herremans M., Tree A.J., Parker V. and Brown C.J.(eds) (1997). The Atlas of Southern African Birds, vol.1. Non-passerines, vol. 2. Passerines. BirdLifeSouth Africa, Johannesburg.3. Maclean G.L. (1984). Roberts’ Birds of SouthernAfrica. 6th edn. John Voelcker Bird Book Fund,Cape Town.4. Hockey P.A.R., Dean W.R.J. and Ryan P.G. (eds)(2005). Roberts Birds of Southern Africa, 7th edn.John Voelcker Bird Book Fund, Cape Town.5. Fishpool L. (2007). Review: Hockey P.A.R., DeanW.R.J., Ryan P.G. (eds) (2005). Roberts Birds ofSouthern Africa, 7th edn. John Voelcker Bird BookFund, Cape Town. Ibis 149, 432–433.6. Driver A., Maze K., Rouget M., Lombard A.T., NelJ., Turpie J.K., Cowling R.M., Desmet P., GoodmanP., Harris J., Jonas Z., Reyers B., Sink K. and StraussT. (2005). National Spatial Biodiversity Assessment2004: priorities for biodiversity conservationin South Africa. Strelitzia 17. SANBI, Pretoria.7. Rouget M., Reyers B., Jonas Z., Desmet P., DriverA., Maze K., Egoh B., Cowling R.M., Mucina L.and Rutherford M.C. (2005). South AfricanNational Spatial Biodiversity Assessment 2004:Technical report. Vol. 1: Terrestrial component.South African National Biodiversity Institute,Pretoria.8. Barnes K.N. (ed.) (1998). The Important Bird Areas ofSouthern Africa. BirdLife South Africa, Johannesburg.9. Barnes K.N. (ed.) (2000). The Eskom Red Data Bookof Birds of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland.BirdLife South Africa, Johannesburg.10. Allan D.G., Harrison J.A., Navarro R.A., vanWilgen B.W. and Thompson M.W. (1997). Theimpact of commercial afforestation on birdpopulations in Mpumalanga province, SouthAfrica: insights from the bird atlas data. Biol.Conserv. 79, 173–185.11. Dean W.R.J. (2000). Alien birds in southern Africa:what factors determine success? S. Afr. J. Sci. 96,9–14.12. Fairbanks D.H.K. (2004). Regional land-useimpacts affecting avian richness patterns insouthern Africa – insights from historical avianatlas data. Agric. Ecosyst. Environ. 101, 269–288.13. Harrison J.A. and Martinez P. (1995). Measurementand mapping of avian diversity in southernAfrica: implications for conservation planning.Ibis 137, 410–417.14. Gaston K.J., Rodrigues A.S.L., van Rensburg B.J.,Koleff P. and Chown S.L. (2001). Complementaryrepresentation and zones of ecological transition.Ecol. Lett. 4, 4–9.15. Reyers B., Fairbanks D.H.K., Wessels K.J. and vanJaarsveld A.S. (2002). A multicriteria approach toreserve selection: addressing long-term biodiversitymaintenance. Biodivers. Conserv. 11,769–793.16. Rodrigues A.S.L. and Gaston K.J. (2002). Rarityand conservation planning across geopoliticalunits. Conserv. Biol. 16, 674–682.17. Bonn A. and Gaston K.J. (2005). Capturingbiodiversity: selecting priority areas for conservationusing different criteria. Biodivers. Conserv. 14,1083–1100.18. Evans K.L., Rodrigues A.S.L., Chown S.L. andGaston K.J. (2006). Protected areas and regionalavian species richness in South Africa. Biol. Lett. 2,184–188.19. Robertson A., Simmons R.E., Jarvis A.M. andBrown C.J. (1995). Can bird atlas data be used toestimate population size? A case study usingNamibian endemics. Biol. Conserv. 71, 87–95.20. Parker V. (1996). Modelling the distribution of birdspecies in Swaziland in relation to environmentalvariables. Ostrich 67, 105–110.21. Underhill L.G. (2000). Waders (Charadrii) fromthe northern hemisphere in southern Africa. InHeritage of the Russian Arctic: Research, Conservationand International Co-operation, eds B.S. Ebbinge,Yu.L. Mazourov and P.S. Tomkovich, pp. 476–482.Ecopros Publishers, Moscow.22. Chown S.L., van Rensburg B.J., Gaston K.J.,Rodrigues A.S.L. and van Jaarsveld A.S. (2003).Species richness, human population size andenergy: conservation implications at a nationalscale. Ecol. Appl. 13, 1233–1241.23. Bonn A., Storch D. and Gaston K.J. (2004).Structure of the species-energy relationship. Proc.Roy. Soc. Lond. B. 271, 1685–1691.24. Lennon J.J., Koleff P., Greenwood J.J.D. andGaston K.J. (2004). Contribution of rarity andcommonness to patterns of species richness. Ecol.Lett. 7, 81–87.25. Van Rensburg B.J., Koleff P., Gaston K.J. andChown S.L. (2004). Spatial congruence of ecologicaltransition at the regional scale in South Africa.J. Biogeogr. 31, 843–854.26. Storch D., Evans K.L. and Gaston K.J. (2005). Thespecies-area-energy relationship. Ecol. Lett. 8,487–492.27. Evans K.L., van Rensburg B.J., Gaston K.J. andChown S.L. 2006. People, species richness andhuman population growth. Global Ecol. Biogeogr.15, 625–636.28. Erni B., Altwegg R. and Underhill L.G. (in press).An index to compare geographical distributionsof species. Divers. Distrib.29. Harrison J.A. (1993). Southern African Bird AtlasProject and its relevance to nature conservation. M.Sc.thesis, University of Stellenbosch, South Africa.30. Dean W.R.J. (1995). Where birds are rare or fill the air:the protection of the endemic and nomadic avifaunas ofthe Karoo. Ph.D. thesis, University of Cape Town,South Africa.31. Parker V. (1995). Statistical analysis of bird atlas datafrom Swaziland. M.Sc., University of Cape Town,South Africa.32. van Rensburg, B.J. (2002). Macro-ecology of avianassemblages in South Africa. Ph.D., University ofPretoria, South Africa.33. McPherson, J.M. (2005). Investigating the utility ofcorrelative distribution models to conservation scienceand macroecology. D.Phil. thesis, Oxford University,U.K.34. Erni B. (2000). Analysis of distribution maps from birdatlas data: dissimilarities between species, continuitywithin ranges and smoothing of distribution maps.M.Sc. thesis, University of Cape Town, SouthAfrica.35. Rodrigues, A.S.L. (2002). The selection of networksof nature reserves. Ph.D. thesis, University ofSheffield, U.K.36. Little, F. (2003). The smooth is better than the rough: anexploitation of reporting rate information in southernAfrican bird atlas data. Ph.D. thesis, University ofCape Town, South Africa.37. Harrison J.A., Allan D.G., Underhill L.G. andOatley T.B. (1996). The Avian Demography Unit:tracking bird populations in a changing SouthAfrica. S. Afr. J. Sci. 91, 14–16.38. Minter L.R., Burger M., Harrison J.A., BraackH.H., Bishop P.J. and Kloepfer D. (2004). Atlas andRed Data book of the Frogs of South Africa, Lesotho andSwaziland. Smithsonian Institution, Washington,D.C.39. Cherry M. (2005). South Africa – serious aboutbiodiversity science. PLOS Biol. 3(5): e145 743–747.www.plosbiology.org.