Dissemin is shutting down on January 1st, 2025

Published in

MDPI, Birds, 4(4), p. 330-336, 2023

DOI: 10.3390/birds4040028

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The Granular Size Concept in Avian Ecology: A Critical Analysis of eBird Data Bias Using the Bird Rank Abundance Distribution

Journal article published in 2023 by Sergio Da Silva ORCID, Raul Matsushita ORCID, Leon Esquierro
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.

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Preprint: archiving allowed
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Postprint: archiving allowed
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Published version: archiving allowed
Data provided by SHERPA/RoMEO

Abstract

In previous studies using eBird citizen data, bird abundance rankings followed a power law distribution. Our research delves into the “granular size” concept within these power laws, likening birds to firms. We identified 13 bird species as being the granular size, representing species with significant ecosystem impact, akin to major corporations in an economy. In particular, these species are urban, raising concerns about the eBird database’s sampling bias. Using the economic concept of granular size, we argue that the eBird database may be inherently unreliable.