82 South African Journal of Science 104, March/April 2008 Research in Action tion, confirming the status of the Atlas as a The seminal legacy of the Southern standard reference. It is worth noting that the Atlas did not African Bird Atlas Project provide information on distribution alone. It presented important new infor- a a* b,c mation and analyses on the seasonality of J.A. Harrison , L.G. Underhill and P. Barnard breeding, and the direction and seasonality of migration. The Atlas has therefore proved an essential reference for all re- HE FIRST SOUTHERN AFRICAN BIRD ATLAS projects globally. 5 It was a lengthy search involving these fundamental as- T Project was launched in 1986 and gath- ered bird distribution data from six countries of southern Africa. The project endeavour, but then it did cover six southern African countries (Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, Swazi- pects of avian biology. The SABAP database culminated with the publication of The Atlas of Southern African Birds in 1997. The database land, and Zimbabwe) and it was the first The SABAP database has been used in generated by the project, seven million bird time a biological survey had been various ways for a variety of purposes. distribution records, has been widely used by attempted on anything like that scale in Four main user constituencies can be four groups: environmental consultants (for Africa. Indeed, SABAP remains one of the identified: environmental consultants, example, to locate electricity transmission largest completed projects of its kind, conservationists, research scientists and lines), conservationists (planning conserva- even globally. birders. Environmental consultants form tion strategies), research scientists (especially SABAP delivered two material products: by far the largest group in terms of macro-ecologists and biogeographers) and birders (ecotourism materials). By 2007, the a database of seven million peer-reviewed number of requests for data. More than database had spawned 50 research publica- distribution records, and a two-volume, 200 requests for data from this group have tions and eight Ph.D.s and master’s degrees. 1500-page publication which presented been serviced by the Animal Demogra- These products are a tribute to the more than the results of the project, and much more phy Unit (ADU) in the past 10 years. The 5000 ‘citizen scientists’, who gathered the besides.4 As with all scientific information, most frequent user has been the national bulk of the data. The atlas concept has been the value of these products can be assessed electricity supplier Eskom; this utility com- extended to frogs, reptiles, spiders and butter- only in terms of the use to which they pany uses data on the distribution of cer- flies; a second bird atlas started in 2007 and have been put and the degree to which tain key species in planning mitigation will, for example, facilitate knowledge of the impact of environmental change on birds. The they have exerted an influence on further measures for its power transmission lines. South African National Biodiversity Institute scientific endeavour and societal aware- Data needed by environmental consul- is playing a lead role in initiating these new ness of scientific issues. This essay reflects tants are typically lists of species, and their projects. on that use, as well as the impact that relative abundance, for specific grid cells. SABAP has had on scientific activity in the As groups, conservationists and research Twenty-one years have passed since the region. scientists overlap to some degree, so it is Southern African Bird Atlas Project perhaps more instructive to speak in (SABAP) was launched in 1986, Africa’s The bird atlas publication terms of the type of use. The uses can be biggest public-participation biodiversity In principle it should be easy to obtain a summarized as conservation planning, database. In July 2007, South Africa measure of the use to which a publication ecological/biogeographical studies, and launched a follow-up project: SABAP2. It has been put by consulting citation indi- single-species ecological studies. The is opportune, therefore, to evaluate the ces. However, the bird atlas is a multi- last-mentioned data need is largely met legacy of SABAP1 and ask whether all the authored work (62 authors and seven by the atlas publication,4 so the number of excitement and enthusiasm generated by editors) and it explicitly recommended requests for more detailed information on the first project, as well as its cost, was citation by chapter. Most citations there- single species has been relatively small. justified. This article complements two fore refer to specific chapters and species On the other hand, macro-ecology and global reviews of bird atlases, which accounts by the names of their specific conservation planning typically involve respectively considered methodological authors, making a comprehensive mea- analyses of data sets spanning many or all developments, based on 411 bird atlases,1 sure of citation frequency practically species in a group. Almost all the South and the applicatioins to which bird atlas impossible. It would be true to say, how- African provincial nature conservation data had been put, based on 272 bird ever, that most papers dealing with the agencies and three national institutions in atlases.2 ecology or distribution of a species of the five other participating countries SABAP ran its course from 1986 to 1997, bird in southern Africa has, since 1997, have acquired or further developed the and gathered data across the region on distribution and abundance of 932 bird cited The Atlas of Southern African Birds.4 bird atlas data sets for their specific use For example, 170 full-length papers (on in internal research and conservation species in the region.3,4 This was accom- any topic) were published in the journal planning. For example, the Namibian plished mainly by mobilizing an amateur Ostrich between 1999 and March 2006. Of Avifaunal Database, a multifaceted bio- army of more than five thousand bird- these, 60 cited the Atlas, making it the diversity database built around the coun- watchers. These ‘citizen scientists’ have most cited reference in the journal over try ’s atlas contributions to SABAP, is made a major contribution to bird atlas this period, with the sixth edition of one of Namibia’s strongest biodiversity a Animal Demography Unit, Department of Zoology, Uni- Roberts’ Birds of Southern Africa6 in second information systems (www.met.gov.na/ versity of Cape Town, Rondebosch 7701, South Africa. b Global Change Research Group, South African National place with 44 citations. The seventh edi- programmes/biodiversity/infosys.htm). Biodiversity Institute, Private Bag X7, Claremont 7735, South Africa. tion of Roberts’ 7 – a comprehensive hand- In South Africa, in addition to provincial c DST/NRF Centre of Excellence at the Percy FitzPatrick book in which the Atlas distribution maps analyses, there have been national analy- Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town. *Author for correspondence. are recycled – has about 900 references to ses, the most important of which is proba- E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.org the Atlas,8 more than to any other publica- bly the South African National Spatial Research in Action South African Journal of Science 104, March/April 2008 83 Biodiversity Assessment (NSBA), an ness of birds and their attendant conser- Coordinated Waterbird Counts (CWAC), initiative commissioned by the national vation issues has not been measured the Birds in Reserves Project (BIRP), Department of Environmental Affairs across society, nor would it be easy to do and Coordinated Avifaunal Roadcounts and Tourism.9,10 The NSBA provides a so. Nevertheless, there is unanimity (CAR).40 These three projects are ongoing broad framework for the prioritization of within birding, ornithology and conserva- and have each accumulated more that 10 conservation effort in the country. This tion circles that SABAP had an enormous years of invaluable biodiversity monitor- major analysis used seven South African influence on birders and others in South ing data. biodiversity databases of 14 originally Africa and beyond. There were more than considered for use in the terrestrial com- 5000 direct contributors to SABAP. In Further atlases and a new era ponent of the analysis.10 Of the seven addition to these, many citizens were Beyond bird-related projects, the success eventually chosen, because they were aware of the project, especially rural land- of SABAP provided encouragement to sufficiently comprehensive, one was the owners, who frequently allowed atlasers other specialists that comparable projects SABAP database. Another was the frog to explore their properties. This aware- could be successfully organized for their atlas database, which we discuss below. ness on the part of landowners alone taxon groups, and that they could bring to Two publications of direct importance probably had a salutary effect on their their disciplines the benefits of such a to the national and regional conservation sense of their role as stewards of the broad-scope survey. The Protea Atlas of birds are The Important Bird Areas of region’s biodiversity. Project (1991–2001) was the first to be Southern Africa11 and the Eskom Red Data Many birders testify that atlasing be- launched, followed by the Southern Book of Birds of South Africa, Lesotho and came, for them, a more rewarding form of African Frog Atlas Project (SAFAP; 1995– Swaziland.12 Both of these analyses drew their hobby because it had a clear and a 2004)41 and, more recently, the Southern heavily on information in the SABAP larger purpose. Both the concept and the African Reptile Conservation Assessment database. activities of the atlas helped them to see (SARCA; 2005–09) and South African Among macro-ecologists, local and birds and their hobby in the context of National Survey of Arachnida (SANSA; international interest in the SABAP data- broader ecological issues. The need to 1997– ). An atlas project on butterflies, the base has led to an impressive list of identify species positively so that one Southern African Butterfly Conservation publications which acknowledge SABAP could record as many as possible in grid Assessment (SABCA; 2007–10), was as a source of essential data. These include cells – the sampling units of the atlas – be- launched in 2007. papers on the impact of specific local came a strong incentive to hone identifi- All of these projects are closely linked to environmental trends on birds,13–15 theo- cation skills. The imperative to record the recent transformation of South Africa’s retical approaches to reserve selection,16–21 comprehensive lists of species encour- National Botanical Institute (NBI) into the and analyses of macro-ecological and aged a greater awareness of species’ South African National Biodiversity biogeographical phenomena and con- preferred habitats because it would be in Institute (SANBI).42 Through partner- cepts.22–32 (For a list, currently of 50 publi- those habitats that the species were likely ships between the Animal Demography cations using the SABAP database, see the to be observed and ‘ticked’. Unit and other specialist institutions ADU website at www.adu.org.za.) In par- Since SABAP there has been a quantum , with SANBI, these atlases will contribute ticular, the use of bird atlas data combined leap in skill and professionalism among essential biodiversity information to help with focused field surveys of threatened the rank and file of amateur birders, SANBI monitor and report to government or endemic species has allowed the esti- making them an even more valuable on the state of biodiversity in the country. mation of population sizes, strengthening human resource for data collection than SANBI is the lead organization imple- the link between atlasing and red-listing they were before. This bodes well for menting the National Environmental processes in biodiversity conservation.22 SABAP2. Management: Biodiversity Act (NEMBA), By 2006, eight postgraduate students Perhaps the greatest positive influence as well as supporting government in im- had completed theses based on analyses of the atlas on the birding community was plementing the Convention on Biological of the SABAP database.32–39 These students its demonstration that even amateur Diversity (CBD). To do this most quickly, were at five universities (three in South birders – as opposed to specialist bird SANBI has prioritized the online publica- Africa and two in the U.K.), and explored ringers and ornithologists – could make a tion of essential biodiversity data, such as the database from a variety of disciplines significant contribution to science, in- atlas information, to support planning, and perspectives, further emphasizing its deed, that they could become ‘citizen policy-making, decision making and re- richness. scientists’. Not only did the simple yet search by a variety of users. These activi- Birders and landowners have occasion- scientific methods of SABAP give many ties include sound spatial development ally accessed bird atlas data to use as a birders a first introduction to how science planning, state-of-the-environment re- guide to birding in specific areas, and works, but the scientific output from the porting, and conservation planning for the development of eco-tourism project showed how small contributions based on the prediction and detection of materials. These uses were, however, could be amalgamated into a meaningful responses by species and ecosystems to discouraged to some extent by the initial and impressive whole. This new percep- environmental change. application of data-extraction fees. We tion of their role as citizen scientists Collectively, the atlas projects represent expect that these types of use will increase helped many birders make the transition a new era in biodiversity field research in now that the bird atlas data are increas- from the relatively straightforward activ- the region. ingly available online, free of charge ity of atlasing to the more challenging A new bird atlas project, SABAP2, was at www.birds.sanbi.org and www.adu. requirements of bird monitoring projects. launched in 2007. While predictions are org.za It was this pool of available skill and risky, we venture to predict that SABAP2 enthusiasm that the Animal Demography will eclipse SABAP1 in terms of scientific Public awareness and participation Unit and BirdLife South Africa tapped impact. SABAP2 will be the first time in The impact of SABAP on public aware- into by launching, in chronological order, Africa that a survey of this magnitude has 84 South African Journal of Science 104, March/April 2008 Research in Action been repeated, and in principle presents a ment 2004: priorities for biodiversity conservation Rodrigues A.S.L. and van Jaarsveld A.S. (2003). in South Africa. Strelitzia 17. SANBI, Pretoria. Species richness, human population size and unique opportunity to compare major 10. Rouget M., Reyers B., Jonas Z., Desmet P., Driver energy: conservation implications at a national biodiversity data sets as ‘snapshots’ of A., Maze K., Egoh B., Cowling R.M., Mucina L. scale. Ecol. Appl. 13, 1233–1241. different time periods. Given the intense and Rutherford M.C. (2005). South African 26. Bonn A., Storch D. and Gaston K.J. (2004). National Spatial Biodiversity Assessment 2004: Structure of the species-energy relationship. 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