Birdwatching Project Helps Save Lake Eymir's Endangered Species

Lake Eymir and its surrounding area are part of the Middle East Technical University (METU) campus and home to a wide range of flora and fauna. Students at METU are continuously researching and documenting the diversity of plants, butterflies, mammals, and birds of the region.

?brahim Kaan ?zgencil is a a PhD student at METU’s Department of Biological Sciences and a board member of METU's Birdwatching Society. As of 2018, ?zgencil has been leading a project for “Investigating Biodiversity of Lake Eymir Area's Forest and Steppe Ecosystems and Determining Conservation Priority Zones”.

The Bird Watching Society carried out the research on birds, aiming to uncover the physical, biological, and man-made elements that may have an impact on the distribution of birds within the area. As a result, the project defines priority areas of bird protection and zoning areas for humans’ activities, based on scientific grounds.

The Challenge

One of the main difficulties of this project is the lack of funds to survey this huge area, consisting of 13 km2 of land, with wide forest and partly rocky terrain. The project area includes Lake Eymir, which stretches over the surface area of 1.1 km2 with a shape resembling the letter S and circumferential length is about 9 km2.

Members of the Birdwatching Society were using paper maps and forms. A lot of time was lost in digital transformation. It was almost impossible to complete the study area in this manner. An efficient and much faster way was in dire need. 

Another challenge is the timely execution. To compare results with previous studies, ?zgencil and his team need to surveil every corner of Lake Eymir, for every monthly, over the duration of one year. This is especially demanding using a small research team.

The Solution

As a non-profit organization, METU received the Esri Conservation Fellowship which covered the cost of GIS software and analysis. ArcGIS was used to identify the appropriate field sites and divide them into the sub-areas for the research. Then it was used to digitize these points onto maps in order to efficiently plan field work. By identifying the easiest-to-walk observation routes, to choosing vantage points with the widest visual coverage for counting birds, ArcGIS allowed the project team to effectively plan their work.

As a popular recreational area for Ankara and the 4 surrounding satellite cities, Lake Eymir is frequently visited by Bird Watchers and Nature Lovers. Despite the limited access of motor vehicles to some small areas, the public visitors enjoy many activities at Lake Eymir such as picnics, nature walks, jogging, and cycling. To overcome the lack of manpower, METU’s Bird Watching Society recruited many volunteers for the project. Matching the interest of bird researchers and keen lovers, this large-scale environmental project turned data collection into a scientific study with community participation, where everyone could contribute. With the help Survey123 ArcGIS, visitors uploaded the data they collected through dedicated bird watching stations located around the lake. This greatly increased the amount of data collected for the project. With the help of ArcGIS, new and strategic data collection spots have also been identified for better bird watching.

To overcome the Digital Transformation challenge, Collector for ArcGIS was also employed for the important task of data collection. with the help of Collector, spatially precise data was collected by field teams in an "already digital" format. this saved a long time that was better dedicated to spatial analysis. With its rich and versatile analysis tools and open data layers, ArcGIS enabled the project team to work effortlessly, and to assess the many spots for the “dot–counts” which are the necessary counting of each and every water bird. Scientists were able to process all elevation and inclination profiles, habitat coverings, vegetation statuses as well as the human impact on the sub-areas.

As the project leader, ?zgencil sees the fairly quick identification and analysis of the physical and biological characteristics of all work sites as the most valuable benefit of using ArcGIS.

The Results

The project is still on-going but some aims have already been reached and many results achieved. A listing of the prevailing bird species as well as the size and location of each population, especially the ones that need protection, was completed.

The visualization features of ArcGIS gave scientists the possibility to translate their elaborate studies into images that are easily understood by everyone, enabling them to spread the good cause.

Esri Turkey assisted the project team with regards to software hands-on training, products features, and technical support. The project team was very impressed with Drone2Map and made plans to include it in the next phase.

“The project came out with resolutions regarding to conservation biology and spatial ecology. Now, we know everything about our bird species, naming the physical, biological, and man-made factors which directly affect the bird distribution in the Lake Eymir region. We also identified priority zones for bird protection. This allowed us to better plan the location of new recreational activities and services for the area - away from concentrations of endangered species”, says ?zgencil.

Collaborators: ?brahim Kaan ?zgencil, Faruk Kayin, Sibel ?zkan, Nadine Sherif.