Natalia Ocampo-Peñuela, assistant professor of environmental studies, and a team of Colombian researchers have introduced a transformative approach to mapping bird species distribution across Colombia, harnessing community science data and innovative modeling techniques.
Natalia Ocampo-Peñuela, assistant professor of environmental studies, and a team of Colombian researchers have introduced a transformative approach to mapping bird species distribution across Colombia, harnessing community science data and innovative modeling techniques.
Their latest study, published with open access in the journal Diversity and Distributions, presents high-resolution range and Area of Habitat (AOH) maps for nearly all terrestrial bird species found in Colombia, including endemic and threatened species. These maps not only cover 94 percent of Colombia’s terrestrial resident bird species but also provide conservationists with essential tools to guide future efforts in one of the world’s most biodiverse regions.
“Despite being the most bird-diverse country in the world, knowledge about the distribution of many species remains limited,” said Andres Felipe Suarez-Castro, a lecturer at the School of Environment and Science at Griffith University (Australia) and lead author of the study. “Our research found that current global maps lack precision for many species. Fortunately, with the explosion of open-access data, we can now integrate ecological information with community science records to enhance our understanding of bird species distribution in Colombia.”
Read more at University of California - Santa Cruz
