Biological determinants of research effort on Australian birds: a comparative analysis

Yarwood, Maree R.; Weston, Michael A.; Symonds, Matthew R. E.

doi:10.1080/01584197.2018.1501274

Cited by 25 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 30 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…We also noted with great interest the few complaining e-mails where respondents, mainly professionals, expressed concerns over the aims and methodology of the study. It may seem obvious that a significantly greater rate of complaint would derive from professional ornithologists rather than amateur birdwatchers, because professionals focus much more on science than simply gaining pleasure from watching birds (Yarwood, Weston & Garnett, 2014;Yarwood, Weston & Symonds, 2019 and see also below).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There are long term-data on white storks that permit advanced statistical analyses and so it is often chosen as a study species by ornithologists, although it is not very attractive to classical birdwatchers because it is still common, but is more exciting to visitors to Poland rather than local birdwatchers (Kronenberg, 2016;Kronenberg, Andersson & Tryjanowski, 2017). In choosing study species, ornithologists follow different criteria, based on the probability of obtaining a good sample size, conservation status and even size and behaviour (Yarwood, Weston & Garnett, 2014;Yarwood, Weston & Symonds, 2019). After some years of study, they know much about the biology of the species, including its secrets and are fascinated by the species which then also becomes a favourite bird (personal experience of the authors).…”

Section: Speciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Circadian preferences of birdwatchers in Poland: do “owls” prefer watching night birds, and “larks” prefer daytime ones?

Frątczak

Sparks

Randler

et al. 2020

PeerJ

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Birdwatching is a very popular and increasing leisure activity, and the study and observation of birds is more popular in the morning due to the greater activity among birds at that time of day. The aim of our study was to find out whether there was a relationship between the circadian preference of observers and their favourite bird species and whether it was influenced by such factors as professional status, age and gender. In an e-mail survey we asked a total of 433 Polish ornithologists (professionals) or birdwatchers (non-professionals) for their morningness–eveningness preferences (four categories) and favourite (open choice) bird species and received 143 responses. The temporal (circadian) preferences of respondents declined from early morning (35.7%) to evening/nighttime (11.4%). Circadian preference categories differed significantly by age, with early morning respondents significantly older. These preference categories did not differ significantly in terms of response time to the survey invitation or in the percentage of their favourite birds that were categorised as daytime birds. A total of 204 species were identified as favourite birds of which 34 species were mentioned by five or more respondents, with only two, the common crane Grus grus and the Eurasian pygmy owl Glaucidium passerinum mentioned by more than 10% of respondents. The white stork Ciconia ciconia was more popular with professionals than non-professionals and the swift Apus apus less popular. A significant gender × circadian preference interaction was detected for the percentage of favourite birds categorised as daytime birds, with fewer daytime birds among early morning female recorders. The presented results are obviously of a correlative nature, but open the door for further, more advanced study and suggest there may be a need to investigate temporal biases when analysing citizen-based data.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Speciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Circadian preferences of birdwatchers in Poland: do “owls” prefer watching night birds, and “larks” prefer daytime ones?

Frątczak

Sparks

Randler

et al. 2020

PeerJ

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Arid zone bird species and assemblages are research deficient compared to species that occupy coastal areas of temperate regions (Clarke 1997;Ducatez and Lefebvre, 2014;Yarwood et al 2019). Clarke (1997) makes a compelling argument that the mechanism behind this pervasive bias is the relative ease at which large, publishable datasets can be generated.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do acoustically detectable species reflect overall diversity? A case study from Australia’s arid zone

Smith

Truskinger

Roe

et al. 2020

Remote Sens Ecol Conserv

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In recent years, passive acoustic monitoring has emerged as a reliable method for monitoring soniferous fauna, with numerous studies finding estimates of species richness and community composition are comparable with estimates derived from conventional field surveys. Most of these studies compare point counts of forest bird communities with contemporaneous short‐duration acoustic recordings, but several questions remain. How do these two methods compare in more open, arid ecosystems, how does applying methods optimally influence comparisons, and how do patterns in acoustically detectable species compare with overall patterns? Here we demonstrate techniques for improving sampling of acoustic data and conduct acoustic surveys to estimate species richness from ephemeral creek‐lines in the Australian arid zone using a long‐term passively derived acoustic dataset. We examine these results in the context of long‐term observer‐based transect surveys conducted along the same creek‐lines to define species within the avian assemblage that are acoustically detectable or acoustically undetectable/cryptic. Our data suggest that some species were consistently missed by acoustic surveys, but most belonged to groups that are typically excluded from inventories prior to analysis including rare species, raptors, waterbirds, swallows and nocturnal birds. Further, the relative diversities of sites were well estimated by acoustic surveys, with variations between sites reflecting those estimated by observer‐based field surveys. This suggests that in our study system, acoustically detectable species are reliable indicators of overall species richness. Field‐based surveys will remain an important component of sampling in arid ecosystems and we highlight the value of applying acoustic and conventional field‐based surveys in a complementary manner. This approach allows large, publishable datasets to be generated by exploiting the temporal reach of acoustic sensors, while also maximizing detections of acoustically cryptic species via field‐based surveys. We argue that acoustic monitoring has the potential to facilitate greater research effort in largely research‐deficient arid ecosystems.

show abstract

“…It may seem obvious that a significantly greater rate of complaint would derive from professional ornithologists rather than amateur birdwatchers, because professionals focus much more on science than simply gaining pleasure from watching birds (e.g. Yarwood et al, 2014;Yarwood, Weston, & Symonds, 2019 and see also below).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There are long term-data on white storks that permit advanced statistical analyses and so it is often chosen as a study species by ornithologists, although it is not very attractive to classical birdwatchers because it is still common, but is more exciting to visitors to Poland rather than local birdwatchers (Kronenberg, 2016;Kronenberg et al, 2017). In choosing study species, ornithologists follow different criteria, based on the probability of obtaining a good sample size, conservation status, and even size and behaviour (Yarwood et al, 2014(Yarwood et al, , 2019. After some years of study, they know much about the biology of the species, including its secrets, and are fascinated by the species which then also becomes a favourite bird (personal experience of the authors).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Peer Review #1 of "Circadian preferences of birdwatchers in Poland: do “owls” prefer watching night birds, and “larks” prefer daytime ones? (v0.1)"

2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Birdwatching is a very popular and increasing leisure activity, and the study and observation of birds is more popular in the morning due to the greater activity among birds at that time of day. The aim of our study was to find out whether there was a relationship between the circadian preference of observers and their favourite bird species, and whether it was influenced by such factors as professional status, age and gender. In an e-mail survey we asked a total of 433 Polish ornithologists (professionals) or birdwatchers (non-professionals) for their morningness-eveningness preferences (four categories) and favourite (open choice) bird species, and received 143 responses. The temporal (circadian) preferences of respondents declined from early morning (35.7%) to evening / nighttime (11.4%). Circadian preference categories differed significantly by age, with early morning respondents significantly older. These preference categories did not differ significantly in terms of response time to the survey invitation or in the percentage of their favourite birds that were categorised as daytime birds. A total of 204 species were identified as favourite birds of which 34 species were mentioned by 5 or more respondents, with only two, the common crane Grus grus and the Eurasian pygmy owl Glaucidium passerinum mentioned by more than 10% of respondents. The white stork Ciconia ciconia was more popular with professionals than non-professionals and the swift Apus apus less popular. A significant gender × circadian preference interaction was detected for the percentage of favourite birds categorised as daytime birds, with fewer daytime birds among early morning female recorders. The presented results are obviously of a correlative nature, but open the door for further, more advanced study, and suggest there may be a need to investigate temporal biases when analysing citizen-based data.

show abstract

Biological determinants of research effort on Australian birds: a comparative analysis

Cited by 25 publications

References 30 publications

Circadian preferences of birdwatchers in Poland: do “owls” prefer watching night birds, and “larks” prefer daytime ones?

Circadian preferences of birdwatchers in Poland: do “owls” prefer watching night birds, and “larks” prefer daytime ones?

Do acoustically detectable species reflect overall diversity? A case study from Australia’s arid zone

Peer Review #1 of "Circadian preferences of birdwatchers in Poland: do “owls” prefer watching night birds, and “larks” prefer daytime ones? (v0.1)"

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About