MAPS: Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship

About MAPS

The MAPS (Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship) program was created by the Institute for Bird Populations (www.birdpop.org) in 1989 to assess and monitor the population dynamics of North American land birds.  The program comprises a continent-wide network of constant-effort mist netting stations.  Analysis of the resulting data provides critical information relating to the ecology, conservation, and management of North American land bird populations.

The Major Goals of MAPS:

  • Provide data on vital (productivityand survival) rates to complement count data
  • Identify likely causes of bird population declines

Why Monitor Productivity and Survival?

  • Because they are affected by environmental stress and/or management actions directly and without substantial time lags
  • They are better indicators of habitat quality rather than habitat abundance
  • They provide information on the likely causes of bird population change
  • They provide information on the part of the lifecycle that is limiting for populations
  • They can be used to identify the health and viability of bird populations
  • They can be used to identifypopulation growth and decline

Other Bird Conservation Goals of MAPS

  • To identify likely demographic causes of bird population change
  • Formulate conservation management strategies to reverse declines and
  • Evaluate the effectiveness of bird conservation management actions already implemented