Bird Point Counts

KEY DETAILS

Principal Investigator: Dr. Matthew Rogan
Date; 18 July 2023
Version; 0.0.1
Programme; Rangelands Biodiversity Project (RBP)
Study Site; Lewa-Lolldaiga-Borana-Ngare Ndare (LLBN)
Key partners; K. Lisa Yang Center for Conservation Bioacoustics
Contact email; mrogan@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.

1.1 DD PURPOSE

To provide a clear understanding of the purpose of each Natural State project and its contribution to Natural State’s mission of facilitating nature restoration at scale by using the latest technology and methods to revolutionise impact monitoring for carbon, biodiversity and human well-being.

1.2 DD SCOPE

This document details how this project fits within Natural State’s Impact Monitoring strategy and the principal team members overseeing the project. It explains why the project was conceived and how it will be implemented. It further directs readers to where they can find additional information relevant to the project.

2. GLOSSARY

[INSERT RELEVANT TERMS FROM MAIN NS GLOSSARY AS DEFINITION LIST HERE]

3. PROJECT OVERVIEW

3.1 PROJECT AIMS

The Bird Point Counts project aims to:

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

3.2 PROJECT BACKGROUND

[PROVIDE PROJECT BACKGROUND HERE]

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. The study site-centered ecosystem (SCE) exhibits three main “arms” with on extending south around the western edge of Mt. Kenya, one extending east along the southern side of the B9 highway to the northeastern edge of Meru County, and the longest and largest arm extending 130 km northwest to Maralal with some isolated islands of similar ecosystem to the north and west. The entire SCE is located between -0.3° and 2.3° latitude, and between 36.3° and 38.1° 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.

[ADD A MAP OF THE STUDY AREA IF NO MAP IS INCLUDED IN THE SURVEY DESIGN SECTION BELOW]

3.4 PROJECT TIMELINE

[INSERT PROJECT TIMELINE]

4. SURVEY DESIGN

The bird point count survey is a multiple-observer, replicated point count.

4.1 SPATIAL DESIGN

Sampling stations for the BPC survey are subjectively selected as a representative subset of all NS passive bioaccoustic monitoring stations. Initial stations will occur at the AudioMoth stations within Rangeland Baseline Survey sites. Subsequently, bird point counts will occur at the centroid of GEM sites and at bioaccoustic monitoring stations within Ngare-Ndare forest.

[INSERT MAP OF STUDY SITES/TRANSECTS/STATIONS]

4.2 TEMPORAL DESIGN

Each BPC consists of a 30-minute monitoring period 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 a minimum of four times – twice in the morning and twice in the evening. A fifth sample is preferable. 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 10:35 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 two human observers, one bioaccoustic recorder (AudioM oth), 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 in eBird themselves than to just use a single observer.

5.1 PASSIVE ACOUSITC MONITORING

Bioacoustic sampling will follow standard NS bioacoustic sampling procedures. However, audiomoths will not need to be deplyed for this project specifically as they have already been deployed at these sites for the Rangelands Baseline Survey. However, Audiomoths should be checked to ensure that they are functioning properly before a BPC is conducted.

5.2 BIRD POINT COUNTS

Each observer/recorder pair should stand 5-10 m from the bioaccoustic recorder in opposite directions of each other (i.e, pairs should be 10-20 m apart). When the 30-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 data-tech 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 eBird. The askari should monitor the surrounding area for dangerous wildlife.

6. ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORK

[INSERT BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF PLANNED ANALYTICAL APPROACHES]

7. EXPECTED OUTPUTS

[INSERT FIRST EXPECTED OUTPUT HERE]
[INSERT SECOND EXPECTED OUTPUT HERE]…

8.1 STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE

SOP

8.2 OUTPUTS

8.3 DATA ELEMENTS

Survey Design

Data Collection

Data Layers

Dashboard

Project dashboard

8.4 ADMINISTRATIVE DOCUMENTS

[INSERT ANY RELEVANT ADMINISTRATIVE DOCUMENTS (e.g., GRANTS)]

9. REVISION AND VERSION HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION

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10. SIGNATURES OF CONFIRMATION

Principal Investigator: ______________ Date: ___________

Director of Impact Insights: ____________ Date: ___________

11. BIBLIOGRAPHY