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Patterns of research effort in birds
Simon Ducatez1, Louis Lefebvre1
1Department of Biology, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada.
Plos One
|March 4, 2014
Summary
Research effort in birds is unevenly distributed, influenced by evolutionary relationships, geography, and traits. This bias impacts conservation assessments, with non-threatened species receiving more study than threatened ones.
Area of Science:
- Ornithology
- Biodiversity research
- Conservation science
Background:
- Comparative analyses in ornithology are increasingly common.
- Understanding research effort distribution is crucial for unbiased evolutionary and ecological studies.
- Existing methods for unbiased data collection require accurate global research effort data.
Observation:
- A comprehensive dataset of research effort (1978-2008) was compiled for 10,064 bird species using Zoological Record data.
- Research effort was analyzed against avian phylogeny, geographic distribution, and eleven life history/ecological traits.
Findings:
- Phylogeny explains a significant portion of research effort variance.
- Geographic range and life history/ecological traits also significantly influence research effort.
- Avian taxa exhibit varying levels of study, with non-threatened species being studied twice as much as threatened species.
Implications:
- The developed dataset serves as a tool to account for research effort bias in comparative analyses.
- Identifies under- and overstudied avian groups, crucial for targeted research and conservation.
- Highlights significant bias in extinction vulnerability assessments, where threatened species are under-researched.
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