Archiving Southwest Alaska’s National Park bird survey data in the Avian Knowledge Network (AKN) database: Project overview
Walton K, McGrath J, Gotthardt T. 2011. Archiving Southwest Alaska’s National Park bird survey data in the Avian Knowledge Network (AKN) database: Project overview. Natural Resource Data Series. NPS/SWAN/NRDS—2011/207. National Park Service, Natural Resource Stewardship and Science. Fort Collins, Colorado
The Southwest Alaska Network (SWAN) of the National Park Service (NPS) is assessing status and monitoring long-term trends of key natural resources or "vital signs" in its five national park units, including: Alagnak Wild River (ALAG), Aniakchak National Monument and Preserve (ANIA), Katmai National Park and Preserve (KATM), Kenai Fjords National Park (KEFJ), and Lake Clark National Park and Preserve (LACL). The goal of this project was to improve the understanding of the status of bird populations in SWAN parks, and to inform management and promotion of public understanding of park resources by making contemporary avian survey data accessible via a nationally recognized avian archival database that is accessible on-line. The database chosen for the SWAN avian data repository was the Avian Knowledge Network database (AKN; www.avianknowledge.net). AKN is an international organization of government and non-government institutions focused on understanding the patterns and dynamics of bird populations across the western hemisphere. The goal of AKN is to organize observational data and provide tools to discover, access, and analyze these data. Over time, AKN will educate the public on the dynamics of bird populations, provide interactive decision-making tools for land managers, and make data available for scientific research. We also developed a user’s guide of standard operating procedures for NPS staff that describes the process of downloading AKN data for individual parks using the AKN web-portal, and formatting the data so it can be used to annually update park bird checklists. AKN does not allow users to perform customized location queries more specific than at the state level (e.g., Alaska); therefore we were limited to describing the process of downloading AKN data for the entire state.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Walton, Kelly; McGrath, Jennifer; Gotthardt, Tracey
- Date of Issue
- 2011-11
- Publisher
- National Park Service, Natural Resource Stewardship and Science
- Units
- ANIA , KATM , KEFJ , LACL , NRSS , SWAN
- Keywords
- Alaska knowledge network; breeding birds, data archive, e-bird