on behalf of

UK’s Avian Population Estimates Panel

Statutory organisations Non-governmental organisations

1997 2006

2011

APEP rôles

Co-ordination and collation

Waterbirds

Birds of prey & single species surveys

Terrestrial birds etc.

Gamebirds

Process1. Initiation meeting to discuss issues and timescale

2. Collation of estimates for different species groups by ‘lead’ organisations

3. Collation of draft overall UK assessment by JNCC

4. Meeting(s) to resolve issues that have emerged

5. Drafting assessment

6. Submission and publication

Metadata• Scale: Great Britain & United Kingdom

• Seasons: Breeding + winter (+ passage)

• Type of survey

• Units

• Period

• Reliability (accuracy)

• Methods used to derive estimate

• Published source(s)

Principles

• As data used is for statutory purposes (conservation case-work) – peer review and audit very important:

– only published estimates used (where possible)

– no ‘black-boxes’!

APEP 3: current issues

Correcting atlas based estimates (1988-1992) using monitoring trend data (1993 – present)

- methodologies

Past estimates of waders based on incomplete mosaics of ‘real’ census data vs. interpolations from sample counts– which is ‘best’?!

APEP 3: current issues

Waterbird surveys count variable proportions of national populations

What scaling factors to use for different species to estimate ‘total’ populations?

e.g. Red Knot Calidris canutus vs Mallard Anas platyrhynchos

Lessons learnt

• Provides periodically updated source of estimates for statutory uses– 1% national thresholds for protected areas (SPAs, SSSIs etc.)

• Provides ‘one-stop shop’ for users

• Has a resource cost (but not excessive)

• Logically builds on (and strengthens) pre-existing bird monitoring partnerships between UK statutory and NGO sectors – identifies data deficiencies and helps target further surveys

• Overall - useful and valuable

Discussion point?

Do we need a process to share good approaches / technical understanding for deriving national totals from different types of survey data

– Could help avoid reinventing wheels?

– ( & accepting different levels of data availability)