PowerPoint Presentation

The Avian Knowledge NetworkA partnership for the conservation of birds and their habitats

November 2013Katie Koch US Fish and Wildlife ServiceLeo Salas Point Blue Conservation ScienceEd Laurent Connecting ConservationJohn Alexander Klamath Bird ObservatoryDavid Hanni Rocky Mountain Bird ObservatoryTroy Wilson US Fish and Wildlife ServicePRBO Conservation Science1Thank you for inviting us to be here today to tell you about the Avian Knowledge Network (hereafter AKN). Our hope today is to try to illustrate to you with examples how the AKN can help you achieve your bird conservation mission.OutlineWho/What is the AKN?

How the AKN improves bird conservation

How the AKN shares solutions

How the AKN helps build partnerships

Incorporating Climate Change

Benefits from collaborating with the AKN

AvianKnowledgeNetworkPRBO Conservation ScienceI will begin by providing a background on the AKN (why, what and who)Through a series of examples, I will illustrate how the AKN is helping us improve bird conservationIll give you examples on how the AKN shares solutions to problems and helps build partnershipsAnd finally, Ill show one approach to integrating climate change into bird conservation decision support.2Why the AKN?What is the problem?

AvianKnowledgeNetworkPRBO Conservation Science3We have a vast amount of information scattered throughout the ornithological community. The way we have been managing information makes it difficult to leverage this investment to help inform important bird conservation decisions from local to continental scales.

To do science-based conservation we need data. The ornithological community has vast data resources, birds being among the best studied of all organisms. This slide alone shows only a small cross-section of projects, but the message is clear: Every project collects and stores data in their own way. We dont have a data problem. We have lots of data. We have a data management problem. That is, we have a people or behavioral (or policy) problem. For the type of conservation solutions we want to deliver to our partners, it is important that we aggregate these data and use them in larger spatial and temporal contexts. This is important for the missions of all AKN partners.What is the AKN?

MIDWEST US

MWADC

MidwestCoordinated Bird MonitoringWORLDWIDE

eBird

Cornell Lab of OrnithologyAKNAvianKnowledgeNetworkSOUTHEAST US

SEADC

Southeast PIFPRBO Conservation ScienceThe AKN is an international network of governmental and non-governmental institutions and individuals linking avian conservation, monitoring and science.

The AKN seeks a collaborative approach for meaningful conservation through:Efficient data managementCoordinated development of useful solutionsUsing best-science practices based on the data4Who is the AKN?

AvianKnowledgeNetwork

PRBO Conservation ScienceWe are a community of institutions working together to provide solutions for our needs and the needs of our partners.

The AKN is a large. Clearly, we must acknowledge all our partners, but we cant do it in one slide. These are just the tip of the iceberg.

5Where does the AKN work?AvianKnowledgeNetwork

RMBOCLOGBBOSE PIFKBOPRBOUSFWSBSCLAMNAPRBO Conservation ScienceThe AKN spans the Western Hemisphere. Nodes are located across the United States and Canada, with data collections covering North, Central, and South America and all migratory bird flyways.

Our collective knowledge and best practices to answer conservation information needs are growing through common data structure and collaborative problem solving.6AKN nodes: Decision Support Systems

CAPTUREMAINTAINANALYZEDELIVERDATA LIFE CYCLEAvianKnowledgeNetworkPRBO Conservation ScienceOur approach consists of providing the infrastructure to easily capture, maintain and analyze data to deliver products useful for management; we call this process the data life cycle

We understand data management to be more than databasing. We follow a concept that is closely linked to adaptive management, and which we call the data life cycle. We developed the infrastructure to enable our partners to capture data Curate it using best practices to ensure its quality and proper integration We work collaboratively to analyze and understand it And then develop intuitive and easy means for people to query the results of our analyses and obtain information meaningful for management decisions.

7AKN nodes: Decision Support Systems

Analysis,Decision-support (DST)Data collectionManagementData managementAvianKnowledgeNetworkPRBO Conservation ScienceThe following examples are found across our network of AKN nodes (recall the schematic a few slides ago).

AKN nodes provide partnerships, knowledge and all the infrastructure needed to manage birds and their habitats adaptively through the data life cycle.Data contributed to none node can be made available to other nodes. A single data model and standards allow for easy integration of data from different datasets for download or as input in tools. AKN nodes are what we call Decision Support Systems.8

Improving bird conservationMWADC is an AKN node

AvianKnowledgeNetworkPRBO Conservation ScienceExample 1: The interactive mapping tool from the Midwest Avian Data Center. Informing conservation planning, consultation, and permitting with real time and historic bird data.

Midwest bird conservation partners wanted the capacity to know the abundance of species at any particular location in the Midwest. We wanted to know the answers to questions such as is this species found here?, or which species are found in this or that region? (click)We also wanted the capacity to download simple summaries of the data, and to have some basic visualizations (trends, abundance and diversity tables). These are all questions that serve two purposes: first, they engage our partners by providing them with a motivation to contribute data, namely easy reporting (more on this later). Second and most important, the answers to some of these questions are actually used by some of our partners to make decisions. The map tool of MWADC provides a solution to these needs. You can get reports from the tool by clicking on one of the locations or clicking on one of the polygons in the active layer. Data driven checklistsAlso create custom polygons (and we are building in capability for people to submit shapefiles and query the data accordingly).9Cornell Laboratory of Ornithologys histogram tool

Developed by CLO for eBird dataEnabled on other datasetsShared among nodes

Try it at eBirdTry it at NatureCounts (Canada)Try it at MWADC

Sharing data and toolsAvianKnowledgeNetwork

PRBO Conservation ScienceThis next feature goes beyond basic functionality of a field guide and allows managers to look at bird occurrence for a specific geography temporally. For example, a forest biologist can determine when the American Redstart will be breeding in a specific area to determine when to place harvest restrictions to avoid disturbance during the breeding season.

This tool was developed by CLO for eBird data. (click)Nature Counts (Canada) borrowed it and repurposed it to display other types of data. (click)PRBO borrowed it and did the same, and also deployed it in other partners nodes, like MWADC. (This example uses JV focal species)It looks in different AKN nodes, but the machinery behind it is the same.10Building partnerships

AvianKnowledgeNetwork

PRBO Conservation ScienceThis tool is a common example of a report card: how are my management actions affecting habitats, communities and species. Again, birds as indicators allow us to monitor the changes. The Sierra Nevada Management Information Network (SNMIN) was established to collect data from indicator species to help understand the impact of forest management practices on the community of birds in the Sierras. The AKN makes it easy to scale up data and to analyze data, some of which youve already witnessed in the previous examples. Scaling up data is important for the mission of many AKN partners.The area covered by the project is vast. To fulfill its promise, the project needed the means to aggregate the data collected through the region, and to deliver analyses and results at various spatial scales. The SNMIN tool does just that. Here Leo chose to aggregate data from three arbitrary ranger districts and group them as a single unit for reporting. Here you see one of the many results: a plot of abundance of all four indicator species combined for the three ranger districts combined.As the USFS moves on into their next decade of management plans for the Sierras, this tool may prove valuable for them to monitor performance.11

Managing changing bird habitatsKBO and ABC are AKN partners

AvianKnowledgeNetwork

PRBO Conservation ScienceThis tool exemplifies one approach we took to using birds as indicators of important habitats, but also about changes in these habitats into the future:The North Pacific LCC wanted a tool to predict the occurrence, abundance and future abundance of 26 indicator species they chose carefully to represent 4 habitat types, so as to see not only what may happen to the species, but also to their habitats. They partnered with PRBO, KBO, ABC and other institutions, managed to compile ~1 million records (which we aggregated with ~2 million we already had in the databases) and produced this tool. The models for this tool include relationships to vegetation types, and its the only tool I am aware of that provides abundance estimates, and corrected for imperfect detection to boot!One of the surprising results is that, contrary to the story in CA, in OR grasslands are projected to lose extent, while conifer forests may expand. The BRCR shown here is thus projected to find more habitat in OR in the future. As an illustration of its uses, I selected to look at bird distributions and selected Savannah Sparrow. Then I used the polygon tool to draw a polygon and I get a PDF document back that includes not just the expected changes in climate, but also how species will change inside that polygon.12Managing for climate change

AvianKnowledgeNetwork

PRBO Conservation ScienceWith this tool we address the question: are we investing sensibly management and restoration funds now based on what we must expect to come in the future? We show that some marshes must be prioritized for management because they may remain critical to the conservation of marsh species. Also, some areas must be considered because they may present unique opportunities for marshes to migrate upland.Since millions are spent each year restoring marshes around the Bay, are these funds being wasted on marshes that will eventually disappear in the next century? In a paper that has been accepted for publication, we demonstrate how a prioritization model that includes present and all future scenarios to identify the most important areas to protect is much better than assuming no change, and nearly as good as any one of the particular future scenarios. A manager feeling lucky may choose to manage for one of the scenarios if he gets it right he may do marginally better than the combined approach. But no one holds the crystal ball, so the combined approach is the best bet. This result was possible because we were able to partner with and bring together data and expertise from many institutions and then worked with them to design the means to easily deliver the information.13

Managing for climate change: Prioritizing conservation

AvianKnowledgeNetwork

PRBO Conservation ScienceThis tool exemplifies prioritization of areas based on their relevance for bird conservation into the future a theme that other tools also address. Except that here we do it for all of CA, for 199 species, and species are weighted according to their conservation importance. But who uses this for management and how? The Ecological Change Network (ECN) is a large group of partners interested in establishing a network of sensor stations, collecting data that will allow them to measure and monitor ecological change at multiple geographic scales. They are interested in understanding how changes will happen on the ground. For example, the identification of areas of little climatic change equates with the identification of ecological refugia. They started with distribution models and models of the magnitude of climatic change, but the main thrust of the project is to aggregate many types of data from many partners, analyze them and produce visualizations that will help them understand the changes and make better management decisions. Here is an example of an area that is projected to contain the largest number of species (weighted by conservation concern). That area is where Kings Canyon NP, Sequoia and Inyo NF are located, and it is projected to retain many species of conservation concern.14

Prioritizing developmentWHERE to place energy developments?

AvianKnowledgeNetworkPRBO Conservation ScienceThe Sonoran Joint Venture took a version of the landscape prioritization tool from the previous slide to map the areas of the Sonoran Desert in CA where solar and wind sitings would have lowest impact on a suite of important species.

(sharing data and tools)

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SummarizingThe AKN is a network of partners

We address conservation needs by linking managers with data and best science

We are designed to scale up

What can we do to help the NBCI?

AvianKnowledgeNetworkPRBO Conservation ScienceWe are a large collaborative effort, a network of people and data. We provide solutions to conservation problems by linking managers with data and data management practices, and with best science.

We are designed to work at multiple scalesWe think the AKN can nicely serve you16How can you become a partner?Share your needs

Share your data

Collaborate on better conservation outcomes for birds and other wildlifeAvianKnowledgeNetwork

PRBO Conservation ScienceWe hope the previous examples illustrate the many reasons for and advantages from collaborating with the AKN. But in principle joining the AKN follows a simple prescription: you can do so by sharing your needs we would not be surprised if we already have solutions for you. You can also participate by sharing your data, and we have millions and millions of aggregated data for you.Help build better decision support tools.

17Benefits to AKN PartnersAvianKnowledgeNetworkCollaborative approach ensures longevity.

AKN is linked with all major avian data management activities (BISON, DataONE, GBIF, and hopefully IPAC in the coming years).

Gains in efficiency building upon existing infrastructure.

User-centered focus ensures end product is helpful!PRBO Conservation ScienceThe AKN is focused on data sharing and collaboration, and this approach ensures longevity and resilience.AKN members are involved in all major avian data management activities across the U.S., including PIF, NABCI, DataONE, BISON, and many more.AKN members have invested in infrastructure and applications that you can build upon, tailoring to your own needs and requirements. This means a considerable savings in the development new node(s) and tools for partners.Leveraging of effort goes both ways: any developments you produce will help most or all AKN nodes.We work with those ultimately targeted as node/tool users from the start to ensure the end product is indeed helpful.18THANK YOU!AvianKnowledgeNetworkAKN

AvianKnowledgeNetworkPRBO Conservation ScienceThank you for inviting us here today. We look forward to discussing in detail how we can work together in bird conservation and welcome you to the AKN partnership!

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