Declining representation of imperiled Atlantic Forest birds in community-science datasets

• DOI: 10.1016/j.pecon.2024.02.001
• Publication Date: 2024-07-02T21:41:18Z
• Authors: Lucas Rodriguez F...; Ana Passetti; Talita Oliveira; Juan Lima; Arthur Queiros; Maria Alice Danta...; Judit K. Szabo
• Keywords: Atlantic forest; Representation

While monitoring is essential for effective conservation, obtaining occurrence data often challenging, time consuming and expensive. The Brazilian Atlantic Forest has a high number of threatened endemic species that need urgent conservation actions informed by sound data. Community (or citizen) science surveys can provide cost-effective large areas over extended these geocoded time-stamped observations deliver information on interest. We spatio-temporal analysis Least Concern, Near Threatened globally bird from iNaturalist, eBird WikiAves analyze according to their global trends. Together, three datasets contained 838,880 unique 218 in 2000–2022, including 95 species. the absolute increased annually, proportion decreased compared total observations. Similarly, declining decreased. Through time, non-specialist birdwatchers could have increased, with higher survey effort resulting common (i.e., more easily observed) However, this pattern also reflect real trends, as most were declining, leading detectability relatively fewer observations, even same skills. Decreasing special attention targeted monitoring. In spite biases inherent non-structured difficulties surveying rare species, community an warning system, improve at risk extinction.