A global analysis of the effectiveness of Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas for conserving the world's birds

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A major challenge for conservation is to identify importantsites to efficiently safeguard biodiversity. The largestsystematically identified network of important sites forconserving species is BirdLife International's Important Birdand Biodiversity Area (IBA) network.IBAs are sites of international significance for theconservation of birds and other biodiversity. Over 13,000IBAs, including terrestrial, freshwater and marineenvironments, have been identified in >200 countries.However, some national inventories are dated, while therehave been major revisions to our understanding ofspecies's distributions, populations, and threats.Furthermore, only 21% of IBAs are completely covered byprotected areas and more than 250 sites have beenassessed as 'IBAs in Danger'.The effectiveness of IBAs in contributing to the persistenceof biodiversity has not previously been fully assessed. Theaim of this PhD is to assess the adequacy of the IBAnetwork in conserving birds and other aspects ofbiodiversity, and to identify priorities for its futureexpansion. The objectives are to:i) measure the effectiveness of IBAs at capturing avianbiodiversity at global scales;ii) identify shortfalls, in species, communities, and habitatsin the IBA network, the reasons for these, and priorities forfilling them;iii) assess patterns of habitat loss, fragmentation, edgeeffects & habitat degradation within IBAs and explore thepotential impacts on the effectiveness of the network forconserving avian species and communities;iv) assess the degree to which IBAs conserve otheraspects of biodiversity, including non-avian taxa,ecosystems, evolutionary heritage, and functional diversity.The project will be co-supervised by BirdLife and will usediverse data sets (e.g. IBA trigger species lists, species'range maps, Area of Habitat maps, point-occurrence datafrom e-Bird, and data from systematic monitoring of IBAs).It would suit a student with a keen interest in practicalconservation theory, birds, global biodiversity challenges,and data handling.