If you follow the ABMI’s social media, you’ll already know about our What does biodiversity mean to you? writing contest. If not, we have news for you: The ABMI has a writing contest, in partnership with Alberta Views Magazine! The rules are simple: Submit an original 500 – 750 word essay on what biodiversity means [...]
We understand that many of our readers, like us, are hunkered down as the events around COVID-19 unfold. We hope you’re keeping as well as can be under the circumstances. Meanwhile, ABMI operations continue with a temporary shift of focus away from on-the-ground fieldwork and toward work that can be done digitally. To that end, [...]
A recent paper highlighted the decline of North American bird populations. Guest blogger Dr. Peter Solymos, a statistical ecologist with the ABMI and Boreal Avian Modelling Project (BAM), digs deeper into the story and provides insights from the long-term ABMI + BAM data set. A paper by Ken Rosenberg et al. in Science made headlines last [...]
There are many unsung contributors in the life of an ABMI data point. From the field technicians who collect it, to the taxonomists who identify it and the analysts, quality-controllers, and information managers who prepare it for release, it takes a village. But outside of the ABMI offices, the most unsung of all might be [...]
The ABMI is fortunate to have a regular column in the Alberta Society of Professional Biologists’ Quarterly newsletter, BIOS. The following post is adapted from a piece that appeared in the newsletter’s summer issue. “Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place.” When he wrote [...]
Calling all wildlife detectives! With the frigid weather we’ve been having, you might think that most of Alberta’s critters would be hibernating. While this is true for some species, many stay active right through the deep freeze, going about their business just fine—all without the aid of down parkas, Sorel boots, or hot-pockets. Winter is [...]
Péter Sólymos, a statistical ecologist with the ABMI, Boreal Avian Modelling project, and the U of A, brings us a guest post about his team’s new paper on point count methods for sampling boreal birds. Humans attach more value to rare things, but in conservation biology, rarity often implies an elevated risk. For example, smaller [...]
Are you a nature enthusiast, novice naturalist, or do you simply enjoy exploring the outdoors? Collecting and sharing our experiences in nature has come a long, long way. What began with pencils, notepads and sketches has evolved into an incredibly advanced tool that fits in your pocket—say hello to Alberta’s brand-new citizen science app, NatureLynx! [...]