Abstract
The lack of refined spatial detail on bird distribution in China has hindered further research due to the large geographic unit (provincial level) in existing national bird distribution data. Based on multi-source bird distribution data, we built a more spatially detailed distribution database for every bird species (1,371 species) in China, covering 2,908 counties. The sources on bird distribution are grouped into six categories: Handbooks, Literature; Fauna, Avifauna; Paper; Citizen Science data by ornithologists or birders; GPS tracing; and Website data. The database contains the following records: taxonomy, distribution data, suspicious species information, and data sources. Our database recorded 835 species (61%) appearing outside the distribution range previously known. The use of provincial boundaries as the smallest geographical unit has created misleading distribution results due to geographic aggregation for most species. The new database was built based on increased observational frequency and individuals observed in previously undetected areas particularly in Western China and towards higher altitudes and latitudes. They coincided with the discovery of the range expansion of some waterfowls into Xinjiang. The dataset provides a new base for Chinese and international ornithology studies, especially for those requiring more detailed distribution information for many taxa and large-scale regional research.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Araújo, M.B., Thuiller, W., Williams, P.H., and Reginster, I. (2005). Downscaling European species atlas distributions to a finer resolution: implications for conservation planning. Glob Ecol Biogeogr 14, 17–30.
Bonney, R., Cooper, C.B., Dickinson, J., Kelling, S., Phillips, T., Rosenberg, K.V., and Shirk, J. (2009). Citizen Science: A developing tool for expanding science knowledge and scientific literacy. BioScience 59, 977–984.
Both, C., Van Turnhout, C.A.M., Bijlsma, R.G., Siepel, H., Van Strien, A.J., and Foppen, R.P.B. (2010). Avian population consequences of climate change are most severe for long-distance migrants in seasonal habitats. Proc R Soc B 277, 1259–1266.
Chapman, A.D. (2005). Uses of primary species-occurrence data. Global Biodiversity Information Facility, 106.
Chavan, V., Watve, A., Londhe, M., Rane, N., Pandit, A., and Krishnan, S. (2004). Cataloguing Indian biota: the electronic catalogue of known Indian fauna. Curr Sci 87, 749–763.
Chavan, V.S., and Ingwersen, P. (2009). Towards a data publishing framework for primary biodiversity data: challenges and potentials for the biodiversity informatics community. BMC BioInf 10, S2.
Chen, J., Zhang, B.W., Ma, K.P., and Jiang, Z.G. (2009). Bibliometric analysis of status quo of conservation biology in China. Biodiv Sci 17, 423.
Fan, L.S. (2008). Birds in Shanxi Province (Beijing: China Forestry Publishing House).
Gaston, K.J. (2000). Global patterns in biodiversity. Nature 405, 220–227.
Hampton, S.E., Strasser, C.A., Tewksbury, J.J., Gram, W.K., Budden, A.E., Batcheller, A.L., Duke, C.S., and Porter, J.H. (2013). Big data and the future of ecology. Front Ecol Environ 11, 156–162.
Jetz, W., Thomas, G.H., Joy, J.B., Hartmann, K., and Mooers, A.O. (2012). The global diversity of birds in space and time. Nature 491, 444–448.
Jiang, Z.G., and Ma, K.P. (2009). Status quo, challenges and strategy in conservation biology. Biodiv Sci 17, 107.
Jiang, Z., and Ma, K. (2017). The state’s will, scientific decision and citizen participation: in memory of the first provincial species red list in China. Biodiv Sci 25, 794–795.
Khan, T. (2014). Kalimantan’s biodiversity: developing accounting models to prevent its economic destruction. Account Audit Accountab J 27, 150–182.
Laurila-Pant, M., Lehikoinen, A., Uusitalo, L., and Venesjärvi, R. (2015). How to value biodiversity in environmental management? Ecol Indicat 55, 1–11.
Li, X., Clinton, N., Si, Y., Liao, J., Liang, L., and Gong, P. (2015). Projected impacts of climate change on protected birds and nature reserves in China. Sci Bull 60, 1644–1653.
Li, X.Y., Liang, L., Gong, P., Liu, Y., and Liang, F.F. (2012). Bird watching in China reveals bird distribution changes. Chin Sci Bull 58, 649–656.
Liang, L., Xu, B., Chen, Y., Liu, Y., Cao, W., Fang, L., Feng, L., Goodchild, M.F., and Gong, P. (2010). Combining spatial-temporal and phylogenetic analysis approaches for improved understanding on global H5N1 transmission. PLoS ONE 5, e13575.
Liu, N.F., Bao, X.K., and Liao, J.C. (2013). The Classification and Distribution of the Birds in Qingzang Plateau (Beijing: Science Press).
Ma, K. (2014). Rapid development of biodiversity informatics in China. Biodiv Sci 22, 251–252.
Ma, K.P. (2011). Assessing progress of biodiversity conservation with monitoring approach. Biodiv Sci 19, 125–126.
Ma, M. (2011). A checklist and Distribution of the Birds in Xinjiang (Beijing: Science Press).
Robertson, T., Döring, M., Guralnick, R., Bloom, D., Wieczorek, J., Braak, K., Otegui, J., Russell, L., and Desmet, P. (2014). The GBIF integrated publishing toolkit: facilitating the efficient publishing of biodiversity data on the internet. PLoS ONE 9, e102623.
Sai, D.J., and Sun, Y.G. (2013). A Checklist and Distribution of the Birds in Shandong (Beijing: Science Press).
Si, Y., Xin, Q., Prins, H.H.T., de Boer, W.F., and Gong, P. (2015). Improving the quantification of waterfowl migration with remote sensing and bird tracking. Sci Bull 60, 1984–1993.
Soberón, J., and Peterson, A.T. (2004). Biodiversity informatics: managing and applying primary biodiversity data. Philos Trans R Soc London Ser B-Biol Sci 359, 689–698.
Sullivan, B.L., Wood, C.L., Iliff, M.J., Bonney, R.E., Fink, D., and Kelling, S. (2009). eBird: A citizen-based bird observation network in the biological sciences. Biol Conserv 142, 2282–2292.
Supp, S.R., Sorte, F.A.L., Cormier, T.A., Lim, M.C.W., Powers, D.R., Wethington, S.M., Goetz, S., and Graham, C.H. (2015). Citizen-science data provides new insight into annual and seasonal variation in migration patterns. Ecosphere 6, art15.
Tian, H., Zhou, S., Dong, L., Van Boeckel, T.P., Cui, Y., Newman, S.H., Takekawa, J.Y., Prosser, D.J., Xiao, X., Wu, Y., et al. (2015a). Avian influenza H5N1 viral and bird migration networks in Asia. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 112, 172–177.
Tian, H., Zhou, S., Dong, L., Van Boeckel, T.P., Pei, Y., Wu, Q., Yuan, W., Guo, Y., Huang, S., Chen, W., et al. (2015b). Climate change suggests a shift of H5N1 risk in migratory birds. Ecol Model 306, 6–15.
Foden, W.B., Butchart, S.H.M., Stuart, S.N., Vié, J.C., Akçakaya, H.R., Angulo, A., DeVantier, L.M., Gutsche, A., Turak, E., Cao, L., et al. (2013). Identifying the world’s most climate change vulnerable species: a systematic trait-based assessment of all birds, amphibians and corals. PLoS ONE 8, e65427.
Yong, D.L., Liu, Y., Low, B.W., Española, C.P., Choi, C.Y., and Kawakami, K. (2015). Migratory songbirds in the East Asian-Australasian Flyway: a review from a conservation perspective. Bird Conserv Int 25, 1–37.
Zheng, G.M. (2005). A Checklist on the Classification and Distribution of the Birds of China (Beijing: Science Press).
Zheng, G.M. (2011). A Checklist on the Classification and Distribution of the Birds of China, 2nd edn (Beijing: Science Press).
Zheng, Z.X. (1976). A checklist on Chinese bird distribution (Beijing: Science Press).
Zheng, Z.X. (1987). A Synopsis of the Avifauna of China (Beijing: Science Press).
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the National Research Program of Ministry of Science and Technology of the People’s Republic of China (2016YFA0600104). The authors thank the following members who took part in the work of conceptualization, datacuration, and methodology, Lu Dong from Beijing Normal University. We thank Luzhang Ruan from Nanchang University and the Bird Report Center with the website link (http://www.birdreport.cn) for data support.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Dai, S., Feng, D., Chan, K.K.Y. et al. A spatialized digital database for all bird species in China. Sci. China Life Sci. 62, 661–667 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11427-018-9419-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11427-018-9419-2