The VI national White Stork (Ciconia ciconia) census in Portugal (2014)

Study Extent

The geographic area considered for the study was Mainland Portugal.

Sampling

The data was obtained for the elaboration of the VI national White Stork census in Portugal, with the survey of the presence of nests of Ciconia ciconia on Mainland Portugal. In 2014, during the breeding season from March to July, all municipalities with some references to White Stork nesting or with a favorable habitat for the species were visited. For each detected nest, the following informations was recorded: - Detailed description of the location; - The structure supporting the nest (pole, tree, rocks, human constructions, others); - Determination of nest occupation, with two possibilities: occupied: with an individual/couple or recent built nest or evidence of recent presence of birds (dejects) or nesting evidence during the nesting season; empty: nests without situations described above.

Quality Control

All initial data was inserted in a specific relational database built specifically for the project, which implemented several quality control methods. In the preparation of the dataset for GBIF publication, data consistency was verified using cluster algorithms using OpenRefine.

Method steps

1. The preparation of the dataset for GBIF publication used as source the geographic layer in shapefile format. The data layer was a vector layer containing points. The following steps were performed: - Conversion of the spatial layer to geographic coordinates using WGS84 as reference system; - Used the points to determine the locations based on the Carta Administrativa Oficial de Portugal 2020 (CAOP2020) and OpenStreetMaps; - Exported to csv and reinterpreted attributes matching to DwC standard terms.
2. The dataset presents detailed information of the structures supporting the nest, indicating the existence or absence of artificial platform (AP). The dataset also presents several notes of the registers on occurrenceRemarks originally as "Observações". The original colum "Data" was considered the DwC field "verbatimEventDate". When it was empty, the DwC field "eventDate" was filled in as "2014-03/07" considering the study period described in the report of the VI national White Stork census, between March and July 2014. There is also records carried out on September 30, 2014.
3. In "dynamicProperties": - "NORDEM" = sequential order number to the occurrence. The numbers are not unique. So, it was not considered an identifier of the occurrence; - "DICO" = other number for the occurrences. The numbers were generally unique, with an exception; - "dico_nord" = the joining of the two previous terms; - "SUPORTE_FI" = original notes of the structures supporting the nest; - "N_NINHOS" = number of occupied nests; - "N_NINHOSV" = number of empty nests (or without situations described in the occupied nests); - "OUTRA_ESPE" = other species presents at the time of the record; - "N_NINHOS_CO" = number of nests of the species co-occurring with Ciconia ciconia

This dataset includes data referring to the nests of the White Stork Ciconia ciconia (Linnaeus, 1758), co-occurring with other bird species

1. Animalia
   rank: kingdom
2. Chordata
   rank: phylum
3. Aves
   rank: class
4. Ciconiiformes
   rank: order
5. Ciconiidae
   rank: family
6. Ciconia
   rank: genus
7. Ciconia ciconia
   common name: White stork rank: species
8. Passer hispaniolensis
   rank: species
9. Passeriformes
   rank: order
10. Passeridae
    rank: family
11. Passer
    rank: genus
12. Passer domesticus
    rank: species
13. Milvus migrans
    rank: species
14. Accipitriformes
    rank: order
15. Accipitridae
    rank: family
16. Milvus
    rank: genus
17. Charadriiformes
    rank: order
18. Laridae
    rank: family
19. Hieraaetus pennatus
    rank: species
20. Hieraaetus
    rank: genus
21. Corvus corax
    rank: species
22. Corvidae
    rank: family
23. Corvus
    rank: genus
24. Ardea purpurea
    rank: species
25. Pelecaniformes
    rank: order
26. Ardeidae
    rank: family
27. Ardea
    rank: genus
28. Ardea cinerea
    rank: species

The VI census of White Stork was carried out on Mainland Portugal.