Landbird and Endemic Monitoring, challenges, solutions, needs and results

BirdsCaribbean launched its highly successful landbird monitoring program in 2021 and it is timely to take this opportunity to learn from the successes and challenges of this program, as well as other ongoing monitoring efforts on endemic species. This is especially important given that the potential impacts of climate change on our landbird populations are poorly understood, in part due to the challenges of developing and sustaining long-term monitoring projects. Advances in methodologies and technology also mean it is timely to share our knowledge of these methods to those who are planning or in the early stages of monitoring. This symposium is relevant to the conference theme since monitoring is central to prioritizing and evaluating the effectiveness of our conservation efforts and takes place across all landscapes and habitats. 

Organizers: Jeff Gerbracht, Cornell Lab of Ornithology/ BirdsCaribbean, Howard Nelson, Fauna and Flora International/ BirdsCaribbean, and Ellie Devenish-Nelson, University of Edinburgh/ BirdsCaribbean. Emails: jeffgerbracht@gmail.com, howard.nelson@fauna-flora.org, Ellie.Devenish@ed.ac.uk


Purpose: This symposium includes a series of talks focusing on population monitoring of endemics and other landbirds of the west indies. Talks will range from methods and solutions to monitoring challenges, results from current monitoring projects as well as emerging issues and challenges faced with the various stages of a monitoring project. Following the presentations, there will be a discussion of next steps around monitoring needs throughout the West Indies.


Overview: BirdsCaribbean launched its highly successful landbird monitoring program in 2021 and it is timely to take this opportunity to learn from the successes and challenges of this program, as well as other ongoing monitoring efforts on endemic species. This is especially important given that the potential impacts of climate change on our landbird populations are poorly understood, in part due to the challenges of developing and sustaining long-term monitoring projects. Advances in methodologies and technology also mean it is timely to share our knowledge of these methods to those who are planning or in the early stages of monitoring. This symposium is relevant to the conference theme since monitoring is central to prioritizing and evaluating the effectiveness of our conservation efforts and takes place across all landscapes and habitats.


Objectives: