Patterns in Abundance of Louisiana�s Avifauna Revealed by the Louisiana Bird Atlas Project

Abstract

The Louisiana Bird Atlas Project is a multi-year citizen science effort designed to quantify bird distribution and abundance for all species regularly occurring in the state of Louisiana during two time periods: summer and winter. Data were collected by volunteers in a citizen science framework across eight years, from 2007 to 2014. A total of 351 species was recorded (254 during the Summer Bird Atlas and 315 during the Winter Bird Atlas). Maps showing distribution and relative abundance for each species were generated within a Geographical Information System, and were accompanied by short descriptions of status, distribution, abundance, and other patterns. Distributions of 116 species that were also recorded during a previous atlas effort, the Louisiana Breeding Bird Atlas (Wiedenfeld & Swan, 2000), were compared using the Chi-square statistical test to detect changes in distribution between 2000 and 2014. The Louisiana Bird Atlas Project generated a baseline snapshot of bird distributions and abundance from the early part of the 21st century that can be compared to future changes due to potential climate change, habitat degradation, and other factors.