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 The Birds Australia Atlas is an extraordinary resource that can be used for a wide range of applications. The atlas is widely recognised as an excellent source of distributional information and both the Atlas book and the Birdata web site are widely consulted and utilised. However, the production of bird distribution maps is just one of many ways in which the information produced from the Atlas can be used. The aim of this project was to explore these other uses, and to show what can be achieved by using atlas data and atlas survey methods. The project was carried out in a two step process.
A Worldwide Review of Bird Atlases
Firstly, we wished to explore how atlas data could be used. To this end, a review was carried out to explore what atlases in other countries were doing. Some of the results from this review process have been published in Emu- Austral Ornithology:
Dunn, A.M. & M.A. Weston. (2008). A review of terrestrial bird atlases of the world and their application. Emu 108: 42-67.
Download abstract - A full copy of the paper can be obtained from the Emu website.
Examples of the uses of atlas data summarised from the review include:
- Documenting range and population changes.
- Conservation planning
- Land-use planning
- Environmental impact assessments
- Pest control planning
- Risk assessment for introduced species
- Disease control planning
- Providing a framework for survey design
- Generating and testing hypotheses about causes of change
- Assessing bird-environment associations.
- Investigating theoretical aspects of ecology
- Determining the phenology of specific events (e.g. timing of migration, breeding)
- Establishing the movement patterns of birds, and defining breeding and non-breeding parts of their distribution
- Commercial applications
Uses of the Birds Australia Atlas
Secondly, we wish to illustrate the utility of the Birds Australia Atlas through a series of brochures. We hope that the examples illustrated in these brochures will encourage both wider understanding and adoption of atlas techniques and wider use of atlas data.
Below are the brochures produced to date, and we hope to produce many more.
 Monitoring Birds in the Rangelands
The rangelands cover 75 percent of the continent, and include some of the most remote places and least disturbed landscapes in Australia. Monitoring systems that inform decision makers are essential to manage and effectively maintain ecological, economic and social values in these areas. A system called “ACRIS†(Australian Collaborative Rangelands Information System) has been established to coordinate and interpret efforts to monitor change in the rangelands
 Monitoring Birds in the Rangelands
 Monitoring Revegetation
How do you know whether your hard work of revegetating an area has been successful?
Revegetation and restoration projects are inherently long-term propositions and require a significant investment of resources to initiate. One of many reasons to undertake revegetation projects is to attract wildlife back into an area, and monitoring birds is an effective means of determining whether this is indeed happening.
Monitoring Revegetation-Birdwatch project
Use by Environmental Consultants
Environmental consultants need to be able to quickly collate reliable information on the whereabouts of Australian fauna to advise their clients about important planning issues.
Environmental Consultants
Assessing Fragmented Landscapes
Habitat neighbourhood modelling
Habitat loss and fragmentation of habitat have a huge impact on native animals, and these are often cited as major reasons for the decline of certain species.
Habitat neighbourhoods
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 Monitoring Birds on Gluepot Reserve
Gluepot reserve is a large area of mallee scrub with high conservation value that was purchased by Birds Australia to aid in the conservation efforts of several threatened species. To ensure that the conservation value of this property is maintained, it is essential that managers can monitor the “health†of the reserve.
Monitoring Birds on Gluepot Reserve
 Important Bird Areas of Australia
Identification, Monitoring and Conservation
Important Bird Areas (IBAs) are sites of international importance for bird conservation. IBAs are small enough to be practical targets for conservation management but large enough to meet the spatial requirements of target bird species to ensure their effective conservation.
Important Bird Areas
 Oil Spill Response Atlas
The effects of a marine oil or chemical spill can be devastating not only to coastal birds, but also to other wildlife, coastal and marine habitats, human health and livelihood, as well as recreational resources of coastal communities. The Oil Spill Response Atlas (OSRA) provides detailed information to authorities on response options should such an incident threaten the Australian coastline.
 Oil Spill Response Atlas
 Use in Local Government
Local Governments are at the coalface of planning and development applications and are increasingly looked upon to assess environmental importance of areas under their control.
Use in Local Government
 Bird Atlassing in Regions - Overview
How do you initiate long-term, targeted, community-based bird monitoring programs? Considering the diversity in environmental conditions across Australia, monitoring programs need to be tailor-made to suit both the area and the processes that you wish to monitor.
Bird Atlassing in Regions
 Bird Atlassing in Glenelg Hopkins Region - Monitoring Wetlands
Healthy wetlands are not only important for the wildlife that depends on them, they also influence the condition of the surrounding countryside. They have significant environmental, economic and social value. Birds can act as environmental indicators (see over) and so monitoring birds can help in the assessment of wetland health.
 Bird Atlassing in Glenelg Hopkins Region
 Bird Atlassing in Port Phillip and Westernport Region - Monitoring Revegetation
Revegetation is an important method of restoring damaged landscapes. Since birds are good indicators of environmental change, a good way of assessing revegetated habitat is look at its bird inhabitants and how they change over time.
Bird Atlassing in Port Phillip and Westernport Region
 Development of Composite Bird Indices
Composite indices can provide a visually simple, powerful and expansive way to track large-scale change in bird populations over time. Such indices have been used in the UK and EEC to evaluate how their bird populations are faring and also as part of an index of national wellbeing.
Development of Composite Bird Indices
Atlassers
Are you an Atlasser? Ever wonder what happens to the data that you submit? We hope that these brochures will also give an indication of some of the ways in which your survey data are put to use. We hope that this will encourage you to keep up the good work, and to encourage others to do the same.
This project has been made possible thanks to the generous support of two anonymous donors.
Contact
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works at the Birds Australia National Office, contact him on 03 9347 0757.
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Conservation 
