Evaluation of four bird survey methods for species inventory in subtropical rainforest
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08/12/2014 |
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A species inventory aims to list all of the species present in an area over some period of time. Exhaustive sampling is rarely practical and estimator models can be applied to predict total species richness. Four bird survey methods have been evaluated for species inventory in a northern New South Wales subtropical rainforest. Total sampling time (360 minutes) was equal for all methods. True species richness was approximately 36. The standardised search recorded 32 species, transects 30, point counts 30 and the two-hectare search 26 species. Both standardised search and unlimited width transects delivered more accurate estimates of total species richness. This work extends a previous study (Totterman 2012) to a different habitat, with a different assemblage of birds and in a different season. It is confirmed that large area, active search methods are most suitable for bird species inventories.
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