The Boreal Avian Modelling Project (BAM) is an international scientific collaboration that develops and disseminates reliable, data-driven and model-based science and products to support migratory bird management and conservation across the boreal region of North America.
BAM is built on the foundation of boreal bird data. The BAM database was created by collating and harmonizing avian data from the Breeding Bird Survey, Breeding Bird Atlases, and individual research, monitoring, and inventory efforts conducted across the Canadian and US boreal and hemi-boreal region. We have developed specialized statistical approaches to harmonize these datasets by correcting for survey methodology and species detectability to estimate density.
BAM works to develop rigorous, analytical, model-based approaches to support the conservation of the boreal forest region and the bird populations and communities that depend upon it. BAM models have a myriad of applications: to evaluate relationships between birds and their environment (e.g. vegetation, climate, disturbance) from regional to national scales, to predict their response to changes through time and across geographic areas, to explain population trends, to determine which habitats are important and why, to design monitoring efficiently and effectively, to assess how management decisions made now may affect birds in the future… just to name a few.
Developor refine statistical methods to analyze these data, to: provide reliable information on boreal bird distributions, abundances, trends, and habitat associations; forecast population consequences of human activity and climate change; contribute to conservation, management, and monitoring of boreal birds and their habitats.
Assembleharmonize, and archive standardized boreal bird survey data.
Build supportfor boreal bird conservation via collaborations and outreach.
Facilitatefurther research efforts by generating testable hypotheses about key mechanisms driving boreal bird populations.
Encouragepublic awareness and support education.
Conservation of North American boreal-breeding birds and their habitats is guided by rigorous, credible, and collaborative science.
BAM develops high quality scientific information, products, and guidance addressing pressing management needs. We pursue our vision of conserving North American boreal-breeding birds by providing data-driven science that fills information gaps to guide conservation action. We seek to understand species’ large-scale habitat needs and the impacts of human activities, informing both regional and continental conservation.
We uphold and operate with these values in mind
We strive to produce content that is accessible to a broad range of decision makers.
We provide high-quality content, holding ourselves to the highest scientific standards.
We embrace continuous improvement, exploring new ideas to develop and identify better ways of achieving avian conservation goals.
We achieve conservation outcomes through partnerships and community.
Through creative methods, our research provides useful information from heterogeneous datasets.
We consider potential research and information needs and pursue related work accordingly.