ebook img

Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club PDF

364 Pages·2003·22.2 MB·English
Save to my drive
Quick download
Download
Most books are stored in the elastic cloud where traffic is expensive. For this reason, we have a limit on daily download.

Preview Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club

c2 /TtS i - ulletin of the JL &- Britis Ornithologists' THENATURAL HISTORYMUSEUM - APR 2003 1 PRESENTED TRINGLIBRARY Volume 123A - Supplement. 2003 Why Museums Matter: Avian Archives in an Age ofExtinction Edited by Nigel Collar, Clem Fisher & Chris Feare 3rd European Symposium ofBird Curators Following the firsttwoEuropeanconferencesonbird collections, in Tringin 1999 and in Bonn in 2001, the 3rd Conference will be held in the National Museum ofNatural History in Leiden, the Netherlands, from Friday 10 - Sunday 12 October2003. The scientific programme will be organised by the Bird Department of the National Museum ofNatural History, starting early 2003. Ideas and suggestions for the scien- tific programme are welcome: please forward these to Dr. Rene W.R.J. Dekker at [email protected] The logistics oftheconference will be organisedby theLeids Congres Bureau (LCB). The LCB will be responsible for conference registration, hotel reservations, mailings, etc., and will contact you by email early 2003.The conference will take place in the Auditorium ofthe National Museum ofNatural History in Leiden, which is only a 5 minutes walk from the Leiden central railway station. Your accommodation may be able to be arranged within walking distance. Leiden can be reached by train from Schiphol airport in only 15 minutes. The conference fee, which includes registration, documentation, lunch (2), tea and coffee (but not dinner and hotel reservations), will be approximately 175-200 Euro. Programme: Friday 10 October2003 - afternoon: arrival andregistration; Saturday 11 and Sunday 12 October 2003 - lectures and panel discussions. The NEWbirdcollection is openforstudyduring the week, butNOTon Saturday and Sunday during the conference. If you would like to receive future mailings about the 3rd European Conference on Bird Collections in October 2003 in Leiden, please send an email to [email protected] Bulletin ofthe British Ornithologists' Club 2003 Apartfrom singlecopies made forthepurposeofrcscarehorprivate study,orcriticismorreview,as permitted underUK law, nopartofthis publication may be reproduced, storedortransmitted in any formorbyanymeans,exceptwithpriorpermissionofthepublishers.Enquiriesconcerningreproduction outside theseterms should be senttothe Editor(address insiderearcover). TheBulletinisdespatchedfromtheprinteronpublicationandissentbySurfaceServerPostalServices toall European destinations outside the UKand byAirSaverPostal Services todestinationsoutside Europe.Thosewhosesubscriptionshavenotbeenreceivedbythebeginningofamonthofpublication will havetheircopiesdespatchedby surfacemail, aftertheircurrentsubscriptionhasbeenpaid. A Bull B.O.C. 2003 123 Bulletin of the BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS' CLUB Vol. 123A Published 15 March 2003 Why Museums Matter: Avian Archives an in Age of Extinction Papers from a conference of this title held at Green Park, Aston Clinton, and workshops at the Natural History Museum, Tring, 12-15 November 1999 Edited by Nigel J Collar, ClemencyT Fisher and Chris J Feare A 2 Bull. B.O.C. 2003 123 Phillip Alexander Clancey The publication ofthese conference proceedings as a supplement to the Bulletin of theBritish Ornithologists' Clubhasbeen madepossibleby agenerous legacytothe Club by the late Dr Phillip Clancey. DrClancey contributed specimens to and used museums extensively during his studies on the taxonomy ofAfrican birds (see his Obituary - Bull. B.O.C. 121:217-218 (2001)) and wished his legacy to be used to support the Bulletin, in which he published many ofhis findings. It seems fitting that DrClancey's legacy should be used to highlightthe continuing importance of museums as archives for historic and current collections of ornithological material and we are pleased to dedicate this volume to his memory. Recommendedcitation: Collar, N.J., Fisher, C.T. &Feare, C.J. (eds.) 2003. Whymuseumsmatter: avianarchivesinanageof extinction. Bull. Brit. Orn. CI. Supplement, 123A: 1-360. A 3 Bull. B.O.C. 2003 123 Editors' commentary and acknowledgements Ifpublication ofany set of symposium papers is delayed, it becomes increasingly problematic to follow through the standard editing process of refereeing and negotiation with authors overthe final version oftheircontributions. The difficulty largely derives from the fact that material leftunpublished too long begins to date, anditbecomes uncertain whetheritisbettertoleavethecontributions as they were atthetimetheyweremade,ortoupdatetheminthelightofmorerecentpublications. Decisions eitherway can create a sense ofloss ofauthenticity. Some authors in the presentproceedingsdeclinedtoincludenewmaterialrelevanttotheirsubject;others chose to include some, opportunistically; still others provided a comprehensively up-to-date version oftheirpapers. However, the discrepancies are not striking, and we strongly commend these proceedings as a relevant, comprehensive and topical collective review of the values of museums in ornithology. We also note that, meanwhile, other assertions ofthe value ofmuseum collections ofbirds have been & no less insistent (e.g. Griffiths Bates 2002, Oniki 2002). Theseproceedingsarethefirstofwhatwenowexpecttobeaseriesdocumenting meetingsofbirdcuratorsheldinEuropetodiscussandpromotecooperationbetween museums. The meeting at the Natural History Museum's Bird Department atTring in Hertfordshire in November 1999 engendered a second conference in Bonn in November2001 TheBonnproceedingsareduetoappearapproximatelyatthesame . time as those fromTring, in early 2003 (Rheinwald in press). Athird conference is scheduled to be held in Leiden in October2003, and doubtless its proceedings will appearin due course. Profoundapologiesmustbeextendedtotheauthorsforthedelayineditingtheir contributions,butwemustalsothankthemallwarmlyfortheirverypositiveresponse to our requests for their rapid cooperation. We also thank those who in mid-year 2002mostgenerouslyundertooktorefereethepapers, atvery shortnotice andwith very short turn-around times: P.Andrew, T. M. Brooks, L. Christidis, J. H. Cooper, E. C. Dickinson, J. Fjeldsa, R. E. Green, H. Jakober, I. Newton, R. B. Payne, R. P. Prys-Jones, C. S. Roselaar, D.W. Snow,W. Stauber,F. D. SteinheimerandR.Yosef. We also thank the British Ornithologists' Union and British Ornithologists' Club, particularly S. P. Dudley, C. J. Feare and T. W. Gladwin, for their strong encouragement and support in bringing the editing of these proceedings to a conclusion. Griffiths, C. S. & Bates, J. M. 2002. Morphology, genetics and the value ofvoucher specimens: an examplewithCathartesvultures.J. RaptorRes. 36: 183-187. Oniki,Y. 2002.Anothervalueofspecimensinmuseumcollections. OrnitologiaNeotropical 13: 323- 324. Rheinwald, G, (ed.) In press. Conference Proceedings of the Second European Symposium 'Bird CollectionsinEurope:TheChallengesofMutualCooperation'.Bonn. zool. Beitr. 51(3-4). Editor'scommentaryandacknowledgements 4 Bull. B.O.C. 2003 123A Addresses: N. J. Collar. Conservation Biology Group, Department of Zoology, Downing Street, CambridgeCB2 3EJ, U.K.:and BirdLife International,WellbrookCourt,GirtonRoad,Cambridge CB4ONA, U.K. C. T. Fisher. DepartmentofZoology, Liverpool Museum,William Brown Street, Liverpool L3 8EN, U.K. After the delays to which Nigel Collar and Clem Fisher have referred above, the decision to publish these proceedings as a supplement to the Bulletin ofthe British Ornithologists' Clubwas made only in late 2002. By thetimethetextsbegantofall onto mydeskin December2002,thebulkoftheeditinghadbeencompletedandwe set the somewhat daunting target ofpublishing the supplement in March 2003. My task was largely to convert the style to Bulletin format and to send the texts to the authors forfinal approval, duringwhichIdid seekclarifications andrevisions. Iam grateful toNigel andClemforthehugeeditorialjobthattheyhadalreadydone, and to the authors for responding so rapidly to my appeals for urgent attention to the finaldetails.Thisrapidpublicationalsoinvolvedspeedyprocessingbyourtypesetter, Alcedo Publishing, and our printer, Crowes ofNorwich, and I am grateful to them for making it possible. Chris Feare Hon. Editor, Bulletin ofthe British Ornithologists'Club A 5 Bull. B.O.C. 2003 123 Introduction by Robert Prys-Jones My desire to plan the conference 'WhyMuseumsMatter:AvianArchives in anAge ofExtinction anditsassociatedworkshop 'IncreasedCo-operationbetweenMuseum BirdCollections, especiallyinEurope'aroseoutoftwointerrelatedfactswhichhad becomeapparenttomeinmyroleascollectionmanagerofoneoftheworld'slargest bird collections. First, in an era of ever-rising threats to ever more bird species worldwide,itwasincreasinglyimportanttoimprovecooperationbetweenmuseums in collating and making available information about the bird specimen resources they look after. Second, such cooperation would most easily arise out ofpersonal contact, but at the time no forum existed, at least within Europe, to facilitate the meeting and exchange ofviews among bird collection management staff. The aim was therefore to organise a conference containing a suite of papers focusingcomprehensivelyonthecontentandvalueofbirdcollectionsandonresearch arising directly out ofthem, but avoiding undue overlap with previously published reviews (e.g. Miller 1985). Although open to all interested parties, the core target audience would comprise representatives with hands-on collection management responsibilities from as many European museums containing significant bird collectionsaspossible,butleavenedwithacross-sectionofspeakersfrommuseums elsewhere, and indeed from other relevant backgrounds, to provide wider perspectives.Thiswouldbefollowedbyaworkshop,openonlytomuseumpersonnel, aimed at facilitating a structured general discussion of issues ofcommon concern and priorities for future cooperative action. The focus on European museum staff seemed desirable both because the continent is a coherent entity which contains numerous important bird collections, hitherto lacking any interaction of the type achievedbytheirU.S. equivalents at, forexample,AmericanOrnithologists'Union meetingsandthroughtheelectronicdiscussionforumAVECOL,andbecausefunding and logistical constraints precluded any comprehensive worldwide approach. Given that the whole enterprise was undertaken on a shoestring budget, the responseandoutcomeweregratifying.Approximately 130peoplefrom25 countries attended, including representatives from the great majority of larger, and some smaller, European bird collections. The conference speakers, almost all of whom attendedattheirownexpense, mustbecongratulatedforstickingtotheirbriefs and producing contributions ofahigh standard, as is fullyevidentfromthesepublished proceedings (for reviews of the event, see Brooke 2000 and Cooper 2000). The workshop discussions, summarisedherein (see underCooper& Steinheimer), were lively andconstructive, andhave led directly to anumberofinitiatives, such as the setting up ofeBEAC (the electronic Bulletin for EuropeanAvian Curators), and a strong stimulus towards the goal of a world avian type specimen list. Perhaps the best indication that a real need was being addressed came through the general agreementthatthemeeting shouldbecomethefirstofabiennial series, with staffof A Introduction 6 Bull. B.O.C. 2003 123 theAlexander Koenig Research Institute and Museum ofZoology, Bonn, Germany, hosting a second European Bird Curators' symposium in 2001, and with plans well advanced now for a third in the National Museum ofNatural History, Leiden, The Netherlands in 2003. In planningandcarryingthroughthisenterprise, I wasfortunate inthevarietyof assistancethatbecameavailablefrombothindividualsandorganisations.TheBritish Ornithologists' Union accepted the conference as one ofits regular series, making freely available its administrative and publicity machinery and the able organising skillsofits staff, Steve Dudley andGwenBonham.TheBritishOrnithologists'Club providedfundingtosupportattendanceoftheconferenceandworkshopbymuseum personnel who would otherwise have been precluded from coming, as well as supporting the publication of these proceedings. The Natural History Museum allowed its Bird Group staffto take time to plan and organise the conference and workshop, and permitted use ofthe Walter Rothschild Zoological Museum for the conference reception. BirdLife International also lent its support to the enterprise, signalling clearly its recognition of natural history museums as key players in conservation science. Scientific organisationoftheentire eventwas sharedbetween Drs Nigel Collar, ClemFisher, KeesRoselaarandmyself.Aswellashisroleinrunningtheworkshop, Kees Roselaar has made a particularly noteworthy contribution in compiling the Europeanbirdcollectionsdirectorythatispublishedintheseproceedingsandwhich will hopefully soon be available on-line. Professor Sir Robert May, then U.K. GovernmentChiefScientificAdvisor,graciouslyagreedtogivetheopeningaddress. Mark Adams, Joanne Cooper, Steven Parry, Jorn Scharlemann, Don Smith, Frank NHM Steinheimer and Michael Walters of the Bird Group played indispensable roles in assisting with all the logistical requirements necessary to ensure the programmeransmoothly. DrAndrewRichford(AcademicPress)kindlyunderwrote the cost ofrefreshments forthe conference reception. The production of these proceedings has been delayed for reasons which fall verylargelyatmydoorandforwhichIapologisetoallcontributors.Theirappearance now is due almostentirely to the efforts ofNigel Collar, whohas played very much the leading role in collating and editing the contents of this volume. The whole enterprise has been a satisfying one tobe associated with and hopefully will have a legacy oflasting value. References: Brooke, M.de L. 2000.Whymuseumsmatter. TrendsEcol. Evol. 15: 136-137. Cooper,J. 2000. Reporton "Why museumsmatter".Ibis 142: 347-348. Miller. E. H. (ed.) 1985. Museumcollections: theirrolesandfutureinbiologicalresearch. Occasional Papers oftheBritish ColumbiaProvincialMuseum25. Address:RobertPrys-Jones,BirdGroup,DepartmentofZoology,TheNaturalHistoryMuseum,Akeman Street,Tring, Herts HP236AP, UK. A JurgenHaffer 7 Bull. B.O.C. 2003 123 Avian zoogeography, speciation and the museum tradition byJurgen Haffer SUMMARY Zoogeographical studies involvingtheidentificationofspeciationpatterns inbirdshave beengreatlyfacilitatedbythepreparationofdistributionmapsusingpublishedlocalities andunpublishedmuseumspecimenrecords.ZoogeographicalpatternsinAmazonianbirds include sixconspicuous areasofendemismandnumerous sharplydefinedcontactzones between closelyrelatedgeographically representativebirds. Manycontactzones cluster alongtheAmazonandthelowerportionsofitstributaries,butotherscrossrivercourses atrightangles.Parapatriccontactzonesgeneratemanyimportantriddlesovertheprocesses wherebyspeciesremainintact(dothezonesremainstationaryorfluctuate,howisparapatry maintained,whyandwhendiditoriginate?etc.);parapatricpatternsinNewGuinealowland birds offer further opportunities to solve such questions. Studies based on museum collectionscontinuetocontributevaluabledataonthecharactergeographyofparticular speciesgroups(inthecaseofmigrantArcticwadersbasedonextensivequantificationof subtle character differences between populations), on geographical variation of sexual dimorphism, andgeographically variablepolymorphism. Introduction Bird collections in natural history museums document the occurrence ofcommon, rare, threatenedandextinct species obtainedin accessible and inaccessible areas of the world. Collections form the basis ofsystematic and zoogeographic studies, for researchongeographicvariation, studyofplumagecolourpatterns,ecomorphology, biodiversityandmanyothertopics.Earlyprivateandpubliccollectionswerealready important during the period when ornithology originated as a separate branch of zoologyduringthefirsthalfofthenineteenthcentury.Later,scientistsandcommercial collectorstravelledwidelyoverseascontributingtotherapidgrowthoftheregional knowledgeoftheavifaunas oftheworld, andleadingtoaconspicuousboominbird collections during the second half the nineteenth century and into the twentieth century (Stresemann 1975, Barrow 1998, Mearns & Mearns 1998, Haffer 2001, Glaubrecht 2002). Below I demonstrate the constant and non-substitutable relevance ofmuseum collectionstothetopicofavianzoogeography,inparticularthemappingofbreeding and wintering ranges of birds, the study of individual and geographic variation, theanalysisofcontactzonesbetween subspecies andspecies as well as ofareas of endemism. I show that bird collections stored in museums are essential tools for such research. Conceptual contributions of systematists to biological science through specimen-based research include the theory of geographical speciation, the principle ofpopulation thinking, and the interpretation ofthe gradualness of evolution. A Jihrgen Haffer 8 Bull. B.O.C. 2003 123 Mapping ofbreeding and wintering ranges Preciselocalitydataandthedatesofcollectingarethebasicinformationonspecimen labels needed for taxonomic and zoogeographic work. Such notes are often supplementedby dataon thecolourofbill, feet, iris andskinaroundtheeye, aswell as by information on moult and stomach contents. The field notebooks of the collectorsfrequentlyprovideinformationontheecologyandcallsofparticularbirds. Obviously, the correct labelling ofmuseum specimens, astowhere andwhen abird was taken, is of crucial importance, including information on the altitude of the collecting locality, especially in mountains, and its position with respect to the left or right bank of a broad river. Occasional misidentifications of birds can only be clarified through reference to preserved specimens. Locality data are utilised in taxonomic and faunistic publications as well as in regionalatlasprojectslikethosewhichhavebeenpublishedforPalearcticandAfrican birds. In the Palearctic atlas (Stresemann, Portenko etal. 1960-2000) the limits of the breeding ranges ofselected species are mapped and the localities used to trace these range limits are documented in the accompanying text of each map, which also includes discussions ofthe ecology and taxonomy ofthese birds. The detailed documentation ofall localities as totheirliterature sourcepermits theirverification in case oflaterneed. So far 19 instalments ofthis atlas treat 210 species ofbirds in 62 genera which have been studied cooperatively by 16 scientists, mainly at the Berlin and St. Petersburg Zoological Museums. The atlases ofAfrican passerine (Hall & Moreau 1970) and non-passerinebirds (Snow 1978) map the distributions of more or less related and geographically representative species onto a background vegetation map ofAfrica. Each locality whereaspecieshasbeencollectedismarkedwithaparticularsymbol(solidoropen circle, triangle, square, etc.). Such presentation permits at-a-glance appreciation of the ecological occurrence ofa species, its relative abundance (few ormany locality records) and the location of contact zones, i.e. areas of geographic replacement, betweenrelatedrepresentatives(withorwithouthybridisation).Theseaspectswould notbe soobvious ifthedistributionofeachmemberspeciesofsuch superspeciesor species groups had been illustrated on a separate map. Numerous opportunities for field studies become apparent simply by studying theseAfrican maps. Although theuse ofpoint-locality mapping intheseAfrican atlases is extremely valuable as a means ofestablishing baseline distributions, there are two drawbacks (N. J. Collar pers. comm.): (1) the mapped locality records are not tagged with a source, so that in cases ofdoubt they cannot be scrutinised; and (2) not all sources havebeen usedandcertain informationismissing. Inalessdetailedmanner,Moreau (1972) mapped and discussed the summerand winterdistributions ofall Palearctic migratory birds. South America has immense potential for mapping species distributions thanks to the extraordinary programme ofgazetteer production for every South American country by R. A. Paynter (Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts) and

See more

The list of books you might like

Most books are stored in the elastic cloud where traffic is expensive. For this reason, we have a limit on daily download.