AS@S: ATLAS OF SEABIRDS AT SEA
PROTOCOL FOR DATA COLLECTION FOR DENSITY AND DISTRIBUTION OF SEABIRDS AT SEA USING ALL PLATFORMS OF OPPORTUNITY
Taryn Morris, BirdLife South Africa, Email: taryn.morris@birdlife.org.za, Tel: 021 419 7347
1. Scope and objectives
AS@S is collaboration between BirdLife South Africa and the South African Environmental Observation Network. AS@S uses ‘citizen scientists’ to collect seabird distribution and abundance data from any vessel, by anybody willing and able to contribute. The data are collected according to a standard protocol and uploaded via this website to be immediately incorporated into the AS@S database. The database is open-access and is fast becoming a valuable resource for understanding the abundance, distribution and seasonality of seabirds at sea, and for examining how these have changed through recent decades.
2. In order to participate, you must be able to:
3. Types of counts
Two types of counts are used for data collection. Effort-based 10-minute transect counts from the bow should form the majority of counts, while a handful of snapshot counts can be done off the stern intermittently during the day (e.g. one in the morning, lunch time and afternoon).
3.1. Effort-based 10-minute transect counts
Counts of species are of no use unless there is a context to those numbers. For example, ten birds counted in 1 minute says something very different to 10 birds counted in 1 hour. Similarly, 10 birds seen in 10 minutes in a small area is different to 10 birds seen in 10 minutes in an area 10-times the size. For counts to be useful, we need to know the effort that went into the counting. Effort is the time spent counting, and the area of the sea around the boat that was included in the count. It is as important to record these accurately as it is to do the actual counts. Without effort recorded accurately, the counts are useless. Regardless of whether you count up to 300m or up to 100m if its foggy, or whether you count for a full 10 minutes or if your transect is cut short to 4 minutes because the vessel stopped RECORD IT. From that, regardless of the unit used we can calculate the density of birds, distribution patterns and an index of abundance.
Rules for effort-based transects
How to do an effort- based transect count:
3.2 Snapshot counts
A handful of snapshot counts off the stern (back) of the boat during the day are helpful to get an idea of which birds are around or are following the ship. Obviously counting ship followers here is okay. But just make sure to note in the excel spreadsheet the type of transect as “snapshot” and that ship followers were included.
4. Equipment you will need
5. Additional resources