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

A major challenge for conservation is to identify important
sites to efficiently safeguard biodiversity. The largest
systematically identified network of important sites for
conserving species is BirdLife International's Important Bird
and Biodiversity Area (IBA) network.
IBAs are sites of international significance for the
conservation of birds and other biodiversity. Over 13,000
IBAs, including terrestrial, freshwater and marine
environments, have been identified in >200 countries.
However, some national inventories are dated, while there
have been major revisions to our understanding of
species's distributions, populations, and threats.
Furthermore, only 21% of IBAs are completely covered by
protected areas and more than 250 sites have been
assessed as 'IBAs in Danger'.
The effectiveness of IBAs in contributing to the persistence
of biodiversity has not previously been fully assessed. The
aim of this PhD is to assess the adequacy of the IBA
network in conserving birds and other aspects of
biodiversity, and to identify priorities for its future
expansion. The objectives are to:
i) measure the effectiveness of IBAs at capturing avian
biodiversity at global scales;
ii) identify shortfalls, in species, communities, and habitats
in the IBA network, the reasons for these, and priorities for
filling them;
iii) assess patterns of habitat loss, fragmentation, edge
effects & habitat degradation within IBAs and explore the
potential impacts on the effectiveness of the network for
conserving avian species and communities;
iv) assess the degree to which IBAs conserve other
aspects of biodiversity, including non-avian taxa,
ecosystems, evolutionary heritage, and functional diversity.
The project will be co-supervised by BirdLife and will use
diverse data sets (e.g. IBA trigger species lists, species'
range maps, Area of Habitat maps, point-occurrence data
from e-Bird, and data from systematic monitoring of IBAs).
It would suit a student with a keen interest in practical
conservation theory, birds, global biodiversity challenges,
and data handling.