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Mapping Important Areas for Seabirds:

How to Draw the Boundary Line

Melanie A. Smith, Nathan J. Walker, Matthew J. Kirchhoff, and Christopher M. Free

Approach 3:

Quantiles

The range of pixel values is divided into unequal-sized intervals

so that the number of values is the same in each class

Melanie Smith

Cons

Boundary sensitive, will always produce hotspots

Very sensitive to data gaps

Quantile area is variable based on underlying data distribution

Approach 2:

Buffered Colonies

A polygon around important nesting colonies to protect foraging areas

Approach 4:

Density Dependent

Pros

Identifying areas with 4x the average regional density

Easy to use and understand

Boundary sensitive, ability to find hotspots for any region

Good for identifying the best places for rare species

Melanie Smith

Pros

Easy to use and understand

Finds areas where birds are clustered

Will not produce boundaries if criteria is not met

Milo Burcham

Cons

For distributed/dispersed species, identifies expansive areas

Would work best by varying threshold by species, which becomes complicated to compute and communicate

Cons

For restricted/clustered species, leaves out important areas

Milo Burcham

Foraging distances hard to interpret, often based on other locales

Buffer shape may not reflect local foraging conditions

Cons

Does not work well for long-distance foragers

Pros

Milo Burcham

Draw boundaries in places with little or no survey data

Requires only basic spatial analytical skills

Large foraging distance database available

Can be improved with additional habitat information

Milo Burcham

Introduction

Drawing lines is necessary for marine spatial planning

Biologists synthesize field data

Planners work on protection measures

Alaska's marine IBAs

Globally significant sites

Few focus on delineating important areas

B2B Project

Cons

Boundaries expand at low thresholds

Will not produce boundaries if thresholds are not met, less good for regional assessment

Milo Burcham

Mathematically simple, easy to explain

Not boundary sensitive, works well for assessment of global significance

Results are easily tested for meeting abundance thresholds

Pros

Produces boundaries with both adequate abundance and concentration within a local area

Conclusions

Milo Burcham

The best method is the one best fits your project objectives and data availability

We tested these methods across a large area in Alaska:

The "Sharpie" Approach

Expert Drawing

Spanning 20 degrees of latitude and 56 degrees of longitude

For each pixel, sums the total abundance within

a specified distance

Approach 5:

Moving Window

In climates ranging from temperate to polar

Across species guilds

Both long and short-distance foragers

Milo Burcham

For clustered and dispersed distributions

Gaps in knowledge translate into data deficiencies

Moving window was broadly applicable for delineating globally significant areas for seabird conservation

Results may be biased or wrong

Results of the IBA project are presented in the poster session

Can be completed quickly and inexpensively

Ability to utilize local ecological knowledge

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