The following constitutes a general framework for the sharing and utilization of data gathered as part of a cooperative effort aimed at the scientific understanding and conservation of Greater Flamingos (Phoenicopterus roseus) in Europe, Africa, and Asia.
Keywords: Greater Flamingos, commitment, aggregated data, network, copyright, licence
Since 1977, a capture-resighting program has been conducted on Greater Flamingos in the Camargue, Southern France. Efforts were later initiated at Fuenta de Piedra in Spain in 1986, and at colonies on mainland Italy and in Sardinia in 1994. Birds banded in these areas have been observed, often breeding at other colonies, throughout the Mediterranean, West Africa, and Asia minor. Similarly, birds ringed in Iran have been recovered throughout the Mediterranean, East Africa, and Asia. Thus, all evidence suggests that the structure of the Greater Flamingo population is that of a metapopulation (i.e., a population comprised of interconnected sub-populations) whose range extends throughout Mediterranean Europe, Western Asia, and many parts of Africa. Further, recent advances in population ecology, have made it increasingly clear that a comprehensive understanding of population dynamics cannot be attained by studies at a local scale, when the population structure is that of a metapopulation. It is why it was suggested to elaborate a network of partners to share data required to better understand the population dynamics of the Greater Flamingos in the Mediterranean and West Africa.
The broad goal of the Greater Flamingo Network is to develop an understanding of the population dynamics of the Greater Flamingo that would enhance our ability to make management decision or take conservation actions that will be as effective as possible. This aim will be achieved by 1) strengthening existing cooperative efforts, 2) beginning sampling at major sites of known population exchange not currently being sampled, and 3) initiate exploratory efforts to determine where additional exchange might occur between sub-populations and colonies in Europe, Asia and Africa, and 4) increase the power of our analyses of the population dynamics by sharing data among network members.
The primary field method to accomplish this objective is a multi-site capture-resighting program associated with coordinated counts at the main wintering and breeding sites. Hence data collected within the Greater Flamingo Network framework will be managed and share throughout two common databases:
- an online database of counts at www.flamingoatlas.org
- a locally managed database of band-resightings: SIAM
Members of the Greater flamingo network are free to give any of the three licences below to the data they decide to share.
| Type of licence |
Restriction level |
Moderation |
Access type |
Copyright |
| Public licence |
1 |
Yes |
Open |
Greater Flamingo network |
| Semi public licence |
2 |
Yes |
Restricted to network members |
Data provider |
| Private licence |
3 |
No |
Restricted to data provider |
Data provider |
|
Typically, banding data will be given a
semi public licence while resightings are given a
public licence. In the case of aggregated data such as the life history of a banded flamingo, this data will inherit from the more restricted status of both types of licences, i.e. in this case, a
semi public licence.
Membership can be granted to any person who:
- is responsible for the banding of flamingos at a site within the framework defined by the Greater Flamingo Network. In this case, he is given the status of super member.
- has provided counts of Greater flamingos along its distribution range. He is given the status of monitoring member.
- has got a research project on the Greater flamingo. He is given the status of research member.
Membership is accorded through a vote from a 80% quorum of all members at the simple majority.
Membership types are not exclusive.
Membership to the Greater Flamingo Network gives membership to the UICN/Wetland Interantional Flamingo Specialist Group and its electronic discussion list.
Count data
Count data will be managed in a database which can be queried through the www.flamingoatlas.org web site. The web site provides facilities to import and manage count data. At all time, data can be exported to provide personal backups to the member who provided them.
Band-resighting data
Band-resighting data are managed by each super member within a local SIAM database. Each database manager is committed to regularly update its database with the resightings of the flamingos banded by its team and to synchronize with the common database on a monthly basis under the supervision of the database manager of Tour du Valat.
Any analyses or publication based on the use of data with semi-public or private licence will have to be approved by each data provider whose data is used and can be signed (co-authorship) by any of the data provider who would wish so.
By default, the banding-resighting database is only accessible to super members and can be accessible on request to research members (semi-public licence).
Membership to the Greater Flamingo Network and commitment to respect the charter for the sharing and utilisation of data on Greater Flamingos will be published on the flamingo atlas web page. The commitment of any member will remain in force as long as his membership is not cancelled.
Cancellation of membership can result from i) personal decision to leave, or ii) the decision of a majority of members to exclude one or several member(s). In that case, the excluded member gives up his rights to use aggregated data for any kind of publication but will have access to its own data added to the database before its exclusion.
Modifications of the commitment by any of the parties will require the written approval of all the ongoing members.
| Have endorsed the commitment |
Do not have endorsed the commitment |
Arnaud Béchet
|
|
CHARTER FOR THE SHARING AND UTILISATION OF DATA ON GREATER FLAMINGOS
