Potential Range Map Dataset of Indian Birds

Abstract

Conservation management heavily relies on accurate species distribution data. However, distributional information for most species is limited to distributional range maps, which could not have enough resolution to take conservation action and know current distribution status. In many cases, distribution maps are difficult to access in proper data formats for analysis and conservation planning of species. In this study, we addressed this issue by developing Species Distribution Models (SDMs) that integrate species presence data from various citizen science initiatives. This allowed us to systematically construct current distribution maps for 1091 bird species across India. To create these SDMs, we used MaxEnt 3.4.4 (Maximum Entropy) as the base for species distribution modelling and combined it with multiple citizen science datasets containing information on species occurrence and 29 environmental variables. Using this method, we were able to estimate species distribution maps at both a national scale and a high spatial resolution of 1 km2. Thus, the results of our study provide species current species distribution maps for 968 bird species found in India. These maps significantly improve our knowledge of the geographic distribution of about 75% of India’s bird species and are essential for addressing spatial knowledge gaps for conservation issues. Additionally, by superimposing the distribution maps of different species, we can locate hotspots for bird diversity and align conservation action.