Point count bird censusing - long term study in central Arizona-Phoenix: Study sites

Project goal: To study the patterns in bird species diversity, abundance and
distribution over time and space, and the processes behind these patterns as a result of
urbanization. The ongoing project (since October 2000) is documenting the abundance and distribution
of birds in four habitats (51 sites): Urban (18) Desert (15) Riparian (11) and agricultural
(7). The 40 non-riparian sites are a subset of the CAP LTER Survey200 points. We are using
point counts to survey birds four times a year (January, April, July and October). During
each session each point is visited by three birders who count all birds seen or heard for 15
minutes. Our goal is to study how different land-use forms affect bird abundance,
distribution and diversity in the greater Phoenix area in order to predict and preserve high
bird species diversity as urban development is proceeding. This dataset documents only the spatial location of bird survey locations. For full
project data, including results of bird surveys, and updated bird survey locations, please
see: Bateman, Heather; Childers, Dan; Katti, Madhusudan; Shochat, Eyal; Warren, Paige
(2016-12-16): Point-count bird censusing: long-term monitoring of bird abundance and
diversity in central Arizona-Phoenix, ongoing since 2000. Long Term Ecological Research
Network. http://dx.doi.org/10.6073/pasta/cc7181cd38ce3a19e32708caebdf13de