Bird Point Counts

KEY DETAILS

Principal Investigator: Dr. Lucy Smyth
Date; 13 January 2025
Version; 2.0.0
Programme; Rangelands Biodiversity Project (RBP)
Study Site; Lewa-Lolldaiga-Borana-Ngare Ndare (LLBN)
Key partners; K. Lisa Yang Center for Conservation Bioacoustics, Leverhulme Centre for Nature Recovery, Sidney Shema
Contact email; lsmyth@naturalstate.org

1. PREAMBLE

Natural State’s objectives and activities are governed by a set of accepted Design Documents (DDs). These documents describe the context and purpose of all Natural State projects. Each DD documents key project details, the objective and background of the project, features of the study area, and the general methodological framework. Specific methodological details may be found in the project Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) which is available in the Related Documents section below.

2. GLOSSARY

Acoustic monitor: a passive acoustic recording device.
Centroid: A point at the center of a corresponding sampling grid cell denoted by a geohash, a longitude coordinate, and a latitude. Here, the centroid of the CPP/GEM plot.
Deployment: The period of time a single remote sensor is active within the environment at a single, defined station as part of a survey.
GEM: Global Ecological Monitoring. A global biological research project to measure ecological processes. A 50m X 50m sampling site within which NS measures aboveground and belowground carbon stocks and rates of carbon cycling.
Grid cell: A geohash or other rectangular area within which one or more sensors may be deployed as semi-independent sampling units.
LLBN: The Lewa-Lolldaiga-Borana-Ngare Ndare landscape.
PAM: Passive Acoustic Monitoring, recording soundscapes (including biophony, geophony, anthrophony) via acoustic sensors.
Project: A concerted, data-driven effort to robustly measure variation in Biodiversity, Carbon, or Human-wellbeing in response to one or more sources of heterogeneity in a designated landscape.
S123: Survey123, a field-data collection app from ESRI which NS uses for recording all field observations and survey metadata.
Sampling design: The set of field methods employed in a survey and the manner of their use.
Sampling protocol: Explicit survey methodology that describes the design, effort, duration, configuration, and operation of a survey.
Sampling site: A distinct, discrete spatial unit defined in at least two dimensions where sampling occurs.
Sampling station: A point location where sampling occurs in space.

3. PROJECT OVERVIEW

3.1 PROJECT AIMS

The Bird Point Counts project aims to:

Generate replicated abundance counts of all visually and audibly detectable bird species in the immediate vicinity of passive acoustic monitoring stations.
Compare species richness and abundance estimates to estimates derived from passive acoustic monitoring.

3.2 PROJECT BACKGROUND

Natural State aims to develop scalable methods for quantifying and monitoring biodiversity. Passive acountic monitors offer an exciting opportunity as a scalable and cost effective means of montoring bird communities through recorded vocalisations. However, while species can relatively easily be identified from acoustic recordings, deriving species abundance from recorded vocalisations requires calibrations derived from human point count data. This project has been developped to produce ground truthing and calibration data to be compared to passive acoustic recordings. Simultaneously, these counts will provide robust estimates of species occurrence and abundance that can be used immediately to understand patterns of community and ecosystem intactness or degradation.

An original iteration of the Bird Point Counts was conducted in 2023 in tandem with the Rangeland Baseline Survey. However, due to poor performance of the synchronous passive acoustic monitoring, that dataset has limited utility for achieving the projects aims. Details specific to the 2023 projects are available in [archived Design Documents and SOPs under version 0.X.X] (https://naturalstate3030.sharepoint.com/:f:/s/Field-Division/EgbFtG_vkGBMrCpR5P-9sYUBSC67AApUQAgrWP3B7CiRmw?e=7gG3Wi).

A subsequent iteration of Bird Point Counts will be carried out in 2025 and 2026 in tandem with the GEM monitoring and Carbon-Biodiversity Survey. This iteration is governed by all documentation of version 2.X.X or later.

3.3 STUDY AREA

The Lewa-Lolldaiga-Borana-Ngare Ndare (LLBN) study site is a savanna rangeland landscape in the central highlands of Kenya that extends north from the lower slopes of Mt. Kenya, straddling the boundary between Meru and Laikipia counties. The four main properties are located at 0.11 = 0.34° latitude and 37.07-37.53° longitude.

Rainfall is highly variable, but is typically between 400 and 600 mm annually. During droughts, total annual rainfall can drop below 200 mm. Rainfall generally follows a north-south gradient with more rainfall at higher elevations in the south. The landscape sits at 1400-2370 m with higher elevations in Ngare-Ndare forest and south-central Lolldaiga and the lowest elevations in Lewa and northeast Borana. Soil types are highly variable throughout the landscape but consist primarily of Luvisols (Haplic and Vertic) and Dystric Regosols. Vegetation communities are predominantly Acacia-Commiphora bushlands and thickets with montane forests at higher elevations (Dinerstein et al. 2017).

Each of the four core properties are subject to divergent management practices. Lewa Wildlife Conservancy is mostly owned by The Nature Conservancy but has a number of small, privately owned enclaves. The reserve is almost exclusively used for photographic tourism but does have some livestock grazing, especially along the community road and in a section nicknamed ‘Bosnia’ where the community have grazing rights. Over the last 30 years, the conservancy has increasingly adopted elephant and large-mammal exclosures as a major management practice aimed at increasing tree cover on the conservancy.

Lolldaiga ranch is principally a livestock ranch but is also used by free ranging wildlife. Historically, the ranch was intensively grazed but recently new management has implemented a regenerative grazing regime based on intensive grazing by a few large, fast-moving herds. The grazing regime is intended to stimulate grass productivity and prevent selective grazing by livestock herds.

Borana Conservancy is a dual use wildlife and livestock ranch that also includes privately owned enclaves. In addition to photographic tourism, the conservancy produces cattle and has a partnership with a local community that extends limiting grazing rights to community herders. Borana has a few large-mammal exclosures, especially along the river that runs between Lewa and Borana.

Ngare-Ndare forest is a state forest reserve but is managed by the Ngare-Ndare Forest Trust on behalf of six villages. The Trust administers sustainable use of the forest by the six communities, predominantly for firewood collection and grazing. The forest also has small-scale tourism operations. The forest is predominantly populated with wild olives and junipers.

North of Lewa, Borana, and Lolldaiga are several community conservancies that practice predominatly pastoral lifestyles as well as the Mukogodo Forest, which is a forest conservancy managed on behalf of four neighboring communities. On the western boundary of Lolldaiga Ranch is Kupona, a small experiemental plot for testing restoration interventions.

Bird point counts (BPCs) may be conducted anywhere NS conducts passive acoustic monitoring as well as in community areas where sensors cannot be ethically or securely deployed.

3.4 PROJECT TIMELINE

First iteration of point counts:

Grid 1: 7-11 May 2023
Grid 2: 6-11 July 2023

Planned second iteration of points counts:

Migrants present: February 2025
No migrants present: July or August 2025
Migrants present: October or January or February 2026
No migrants present: July or August 2026

4. SURVEY DESIGN

The bird point count survey is a replicated point count with replicates within days, across days within seasons, across seasons within years, and across years.

4.1 SPATIAL DESIGN

Sampling stations for the BPC survey are subjectively selected based on NS’s highest priority sites for ecological monitoring.

Round 1 (2023): stations will occur at the AudioMoth stations within Rangeland Baseline Survey sites.
Round 2 (2025): all 19 GEM plots, 3 non-intervention Mayanat plots, 4 agricultural plots.

Below is the map of confirmed sampling sites planned for 2025 (not including the 19th GEM plot and the ~ 4 plots in community agricultural fields).

2025 Sampling Sites

4.2 TEMPORAL DESIGN

Each BPC consists of a monitoring period of a specified length (Round 1 in 2023: 30 mins, Round 2 in 2025: 3 X 10 mins) at each station with sampling occurring in the morning between sunrise and 11:00 or between 15:00 and dusk. Each station must be sampled on a minimum of three days – preferably twice in the morning and once in the evening although this will not always be possible. Ideally, each station should be sampled at different times of the morning and afternoon. For example, if a station is sampled in the later morning (i.e. 10:00) one morning, it should be sampled in the early morning (before 8:00) another morning.

Field teams should aim to complete seven counts per day but fewer is okay if there are delays or long travel times to and between stations. Four should be conducted in the morning from beginning as early as ~15 min before sunrise and finishing no later than 11 am. No count should start after 10:15 AM because beginning at 11:00, the AudioMoth stops recording for the midday downtime and we lose the comparison. Three counts should be conducted in the afternoon beginning no earlier than 15:00 (when the AudioMoth begins recording after the midday downtime) and finishing no later than ~15 min after sunset.

5. SAMPLING DESIGN

Each BPC consists of one or two human observers, one bioaccoustic recorder (AudioMoth), a human data recorder for each observer, and one askari (e.g., a conservancy ranger or a NS driver). One person should also be designated as the metadata recorder responsible for capturing survey metadata in Survey 123. The human observers must be trained ornithologists who are experts in local bird diversity and can reliably identify local bird species both visually and audibly. If only one qualified human observer is present, then BPCs may be conducted with a single observer. Similarly, while it is always preferable for each observer to have a data recorder, if that is not feasible, it is better to have a second observer who records observations themselves than to just use a single observer.

5.1 PASSIVE ACOUSITC MONITORING

Bioacoustic sampling will follow standard NS bioacoustic sampling procedures. AudioMoths already deployed at sites where point counts occur must be checked to ensure proper functioning, and Audiomoths carried with the bird point count team to the field should be programmed according to Natural State’s usual AudioMoth settings.

5.2 BIRD POINT COUNTS

The BPC sampling design is a modified version of the protocol from the Leverhulme Centre for Nature Recovery at Oxford University. The decision was made to switch from a NS-specific protocol to a modified version of the LCNR protocol to allow more seamless data integration across NS and LCNR projects.

If a site already contains a bioacoustic recorder, the additional recorder brought with the observer & recorder should be placed next to the pre-existing recorder and switched on. Otherwise, the acoustic recorder brought to the field can be placed on a tree near to where the point count will take place. Each observer/recorder pair should stand 5-10 m from the bioaccoustic recorder(s), in opposite directions of each other (i.e, pairs should be 10-20 m apart) and speak out the date, time, site name and point count replicate number. Each sampling period will run for 10 mins, and be repeated 3 times at every visit to every site. To begin, the recorder should open eBird and start a 10 minute timer. When the 10-minute timer for the sampling period begins, each observer should begin softly calling out to their respective recorder the species and number of individuals observed both visually within 100 m of the bioaccoustic recorder and audibly at any distance. Sightings that are more than 100 m away do not count towards the local abundance for that station and therefore should not be recorded. The recorder should record all observations at the species level (no subspecies or variants but hybrids with no clear species are acceptable, e.g., lovebirds) and number of individuals in S123. When the timer indicates that 10 minute has elapsed, the observer should stop calling out species. The recorder should then transcribe the eBird data into S123. The askari should monitor the surrounding area for dangerous wildlife. The 10 minute point count should be repeated 3 times at each site visit, with at least 5 minute in between each count (these 5 minutes should be used for transcribing data from eBird into S123).

6. ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORK

Species richness data will be compared to the species richness detected by the AudioMoths. Species abundance will be used in the development of vocal activity rates to develop a means of obtaining abundance data from acoustic recordings of birds. The point count data will likely also be analysed within a distance sampling framework to estimate bird abundances across the landscape.

7. EXPECTED OUTPUTS

A scientific research paper on the use of vocal activity rates in estimating the abundance of certain east african bird species.
A scientific research paper documenting the species and/or functional groups of birds which are well represented by acoustic monitoring as well as the species and/or functional groups that are missed by acoustic monitoring.
This data will contridute towards the intactness thresholds postdoc, likely through being used in the context of energetic flows.

8.1 STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE

SOP

8.2 OUTPUTS

Not currently available.

8.3 DATA ELEMENTS

Survey Design

Data Collection

Data Layers

Dashboard

Not currently available.

8.4 ADMINISTRATIVE DOCUMENTS

None.

9. REVISION AND VERSION HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION

v0.0.1 Initial design document, updated in July 2023 and moved into markdown in January 2024.
v2.0.0 Updates to design document in preparation for second round of point counts in January 2025.

10. BIBLIOGRAPHY

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11. APPENDICES