The collective application of shorebird tracking data to conservation

Addressing urgent conservation issues, such as the drastic declines of North American migratory birds, requires creative, evidence-based, efficient, and collaborative approaches. The abundance of over 50% of monitored North American shorebird populations has declined by over 50% since 1980. To address these declines, we developed a partnership of scientists and practitioners called the Shorebird Science and Conservation Collective (hereafter the collective). The collective was founded to translate the combined findings of shorebird tracking data into on-the-ground conservation action. With advice from an advisory group, the collective acts as an intermediary whereby dedicated staff collate and analyze data contributions from scientists to support knowledge requests from conservation practitioners. In its first three years, data contributions from 75 organizations include over 7.1 million shorebird observations forming movement paths of 3420 individuals representing 36 species tracked across the Americas and have informed 18 conservation projects spanning education, land and species management, land conservation, and policy requests. Others engaged in translational science from big data could consider similar knowledge-sharing models that prioritize usable data products, foster collaborative engagement between science experts and practitioners, build focused communities around topics or taxonomic groups, and employ a proof-of-concept phase to develop scalable solutions while making progress toward long-term funding to sustain impact. As the volume of scientific data continues to grow, intermediaries, such as the collective, can be vital liaisons to rapidly integrate and interpret research to support conservation action. Dedicated to the memory of Shiloh Schulte and his conservation achievements for shorebirds.

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Publication Details

Journal
Conservation Biology
Published
2026-03-23
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.70194
Primary Topic
Species Distribution and Climate Change
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
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article

The collective application of shorebird tracking data to conservation

Luanne Johnson, Christopher J. Latty, Elizabeth Olson, Jay D. Carlisle et al.
Conservation Biology
Species Distribution and Climate Change
article

The collective application of shorebird tracking data to conservation

Luanne Johnson, Christopher J. Latty, Elizabeth Olson, Jay D. Carlisle, Jill L. Deppe, Juan G. Navedo, Shiloh Schulte, Andy J. Boyce, Kevin Regan, Audrey R. Taylor, Stephen C. Brown, Christine Gilroy, Joaquín Aldabe, Michelle L. Stantial, Benjamin J. Lagassé, Pam Loring, Don‐Jean Léandri‐Breton, Allison K. Pierce, Walter Wehtje, Susan A. Heath, Amber M. Roth, Ashley A. Dayer, Liam A. Berigan, Laura A. McDuffie, Matthew E. Reiter, Michael B. Wunder, Scott Moorhead, Paul A. Smith, Jessica Howell, Mike Russell, Jennie Rausch, Willow B. English, Julie Paquet, Sylvain Christin, Sarah T. Saalfeld, Bridget E. Olson, Scott A. Flemming, Daniel R. Ruthrauff, Alexandra M. Anderson, David J. Newstead, Olivier Gilg, Joël Bêty, Rob P. Clay, James M. Smith, Amy L. Scarpignato, Nils Warnock, Edward Cheskey, Candace Stenzel, Paul Knaga, Marley Aikens, Zach Spector, Eunbi Kwon, K. S. Christie, Kelly Srigley Werner, Brad Winn, Juliana Bosi de Almeida, Mihai Valcu, Nathan R. Senner, Erica Nol, J. Mark Hipfner, Erik Blomberg, Alina Olalla‐Kerstupp, Autumn‐Lynn Harrison, Jason M. Hill, T. Lee Tibbitts, David W. Bradley, Nicolas Lecomte, Richard B. Lanctot, Jean‐François Lamarre, James A. Johnson, Rebecca McGuire, Bart Kempenaers
article en

Abstract

Addressing urgent conservation issues, such as the drastic declines of North American migratory birds, requires creative, evidence-based, efficient, and collaborative approaches. The abundance of over 50% of monitored North American shorebird populations has declined by over 50% since 1980. To address these declines, we developed a partnership of scientists and practitioners called the Shorebird Science and Conservation Collective (hereafter the collective). The collective was founded to translate the combined findings of shorebird tracking data into on-the-ground conservation action. With advice from an advisory group, the collective acts as an intermediary whereby dedicated staff collate and analyze data contributions from scientists to support knowledge requests from conservation practitioners. In its first three years, data contributions from 75 organizations include over 7.1 million shorebird observations forming movement paths of 3420 individuals representing 36 species tracked across the Americas and have informed 18 conservation projects spanning education, land and species management, land conservation, and policy requests. Others engaged in translational science from big data could consider similar knowledge-sharing models that prioritize usable data products, foster collaborative engagement between science experts and practitioners, build focused communities around topics or taxonomic groups, and employ a proof-of-concept phase to develop scalable solutions while making progress toward long-term funding to sustain impact. As the volume of scientific data continues to grow, intermediaries, such as the collective, can be vital liaisons to rapidly integrate and interpret research to support conservation action. Dedicated to the memory of Shiloh Schulte and his conservation achievements for shorebirds.

Conservation Biology
Purchase College (US), Alaska Department of Fish and Game (US), Intermountain Healthcare (US), Boise State University (US), United States Geological Survey (US), National Audubon Society (US), Point Blue Conservation Science (US), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR), Innovations for Poverty Action (US), Wildlife Conservation Society (US), Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (US), Environment and Climate Change Canada (CA), United States Fish and Wildlife Service (US), University of Alaska Fairbanks (US), University of Alaska Anchorage (US), Université de Moncton (CA), SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (US), Austral University of Chile (CL), Birds Canada (CA), Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León (MX), Universidad de la República de Uruguay (UY), Université du Québec à Rimouski (CA), University of Massachusetts Amherst (US), Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (US), United States Coast Guard (US), Nunavut Arctic College (CA), Max Planck Institute for Ornithology (DE), Government of Alberta (CA), Biodiversity Research Institute (US), Laboratoire Chrono-Environnement (FR), Coastal Bend Wellness Foundation (US), Texas Water Development Board (US), Alaska Biological Research (United States) (US), Government of Northwest Territories (CA), Millennium Institute for Integrative Biology (CL), Groupe de Recherche en Écologie Arctique (FR), Manomet Conservation Sciences (US), Nature Conservancy of Canada (CA), Trent University (CA), Carleton University (CA), University of Maine (US), Nature Conservation Foundation (IN), Virginia Tech (US), University of Colorado Denver (US)
Openalex Percentile: Top 14%
Species Distribution and Climate Change
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