THE MONITORING AVIAN PRODUCTIVITY AND SURVIVORSHIP (MAPS) PROGRAM: CONTINENT-WIDE DEMOGRAPHIC MONITORING

The Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship (MAPS) Program comprises a continent-wide network of hundreds of constant-effort mist netting stations. Analyses of the resulting banding data provide critical information relating to the ecology, conservation, and management of North American landbird populations, and the factors responsible for changes in their populations.

MAPS demographic monitoring techniques are specifically recommended for monitoring the effectiveness of avian conservation efforts in the publication "Opportunities for Improving Avian Monitoring" released by the U.S. North American Bird Conservation Initiative Monitoring Subcommittee (2007).

MAPS research activities are featured in project reports and peer-reviewed publications on the IBP Publications page and in our own journal Bird Populations. In addition, our annual or bi-annual newsletter MAPSChat provides useful or interesting articles for MAPS operators.

 

(All MAPS stations on Google Earth KMZ).
(Only 2011 MAPS stations on Google Earth KMZ).

 

MAPS Operator Resources - IBP provides the MAPS field protocol,data forms, and many other essential resources for MAPS station operators.

Establishing a MAPS Station - We encourage people to establish new MAPS stations, and our highly experienced instructors offer intensive beginner classes to train new banders, or advanced classes to improve aging and sexing techniques. We rely upon donations to provide data verification and other support for station operators.

MAPS Website Directory - Some MAPS operators maintain their own website and use monitoring for research, education, and community outreach.

NBII-MAPS Query Interface and Important MAPS Results – IBP researchers and other parties are beginning to understand the temporal and spatial patterns that appear in MAPS data, information critical to conserving birds throughout their annual life cycle.

Monitoring and Research Collaborations – IBP collaborates with federal, academic, and other avian researchers to develop our understanding of avian ecology and evolution by providing critical datasets with which to test alternate hypotheses, and analytical expertise.

Informing Management – Although the majority of MAPS stations are run by independent operators, many clusters of MAPS stations are operated (or have been operated) directly by IBP on federal lands under the stewardship of the Forest Service (esp. Pacific Northwest Region Six), Department of Defense (Army, Navy, and Corps of Engineers), National Park Service, and US Fish and Wildlife Service. We provide monitoring summaries and management resources for many locations that have operated for 15 years or longer.

MAPS, Weather, and Climate – The influence of weather and climate upon bird populations is increasingly well understood. MAPS data provide a critical resource for teasing out out the important relationships between seasonal weather patterns (and climate) and bird demographics. Variation in the El Nino Southern Oscillation, North Atlantic Oscillation, and the North American Monsoon seasonally influence survival and productivity of species that breed in North America (Nott et al. 2002). We combine both winter monitoring data (MoSI Program) and MAPS data to identify important influences throughout the annual life cycles of birds.

Internships and Supervisory Biologist Positions – Every year IBP recruits crews of volunteer interns (many have never banded birds before) and experienced biologists to operate a network of MAPS stations on federal lands to a) monitor background patterns of landbird demographics, b) monitor the effects of management on species of conservation concern, and c) identify the causes of population change. Such opportunities are often sought after by aspiring student biologists, sometimes for class credits (Photo Gallery).

For further information about the MAPS program, please contact MAPS Coordinator Danielle Kaschube (Tel: 609 892-0445).

An IBP representative can also be contacted at our main office:

P.O. Box 1346; Point Reyes Station, CA 94956-1346; USA.
Telephone: (415) 663-1436 FAX: (415) 663-9482.

IBP Staff Page

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