Description
This dataset documents bird communities along urbanization and green space gradients within the Montpellier metropolitan area (southern France). Surveys were conducted using standardized point count protocols as part of an exploratory ecoacoustic research project aimed at assessing the contribution of avifauna to urban soundscapes.
The dataset includes ornithological occurrence data describing species composition and abundance recorded at each sampling site. Acoustic recordings and environmental variables were also collected during the surveys but are not included in this dataset.
Data Records
The data in this occurrence resource has been published as a Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A), which is a standardized format for sharing biodiversity data as a set of one or more data tables. The core data table contains 2,340 records.
This IPT archives the data and thus serves as the data repository. The data and resource metadata are available for download in the downloads section. The versions table lists other versions of the resource that have been made publicly available and allows tracking changes made to the resource over time.
Versions
The table below shows only published versions of the resource that are publicly accessible.
How to cite
Researchers should cite this work as follows:
Barnagaud J (2026). Soundscape - The Symphony of Birds in Montpellier. Version 1.0. Centre d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle & Evolutive (CEFE). Occurrence dataset. https://ipt.gbif.fr/resource?r=symphonie_jyb&v=1.0
Rights
Researchers should respect the following rights statement:
The publisher and rights holder of this work is Centre d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle & Evolutive (CEFE). This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY 4.0) License.
GBIF Registration
This resource has been registered with GBIF, and assigned the following GBIF UUID: 126d4c89-19b6-43ff-a85f-f5ff7dda937f. Centre d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle & Evolutive (CEFE) publishes this resource, and is itself registered in GBIF as a data publisher endorsed by GBIF France.
Keywords
Occurrence; Point count survey; Urban sites; Urban ecosystems; Community structure; Urban biodiversity; Bird communities; Soundscape ecology; Observation
Contacts
https://orcid.org/https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8438-7809
Geographic Coverage
N/A
| Bounding Coordinates | South West [43.584, 3.829], North East [43.642, 3.924] |
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Taxonomic Coverage
No Description available
| Kingdom | Animalia |
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| Class | Aves |
| Order | Columbiformes, Charadriiformes, Bucerotiformes, Psittaciformes, Caprimulgiformes, Passeriformes, Strigiformes, Pelecaniformes, Coraciiformes, Piciformes, Falconiformes, Accipitriformes |
| Family | Fringillidae, Alcedinidae, Passeridae, Troglodytidae, Laridae, Sylviidae, Corvidae, Accipitridae, Upupidae, Phylloscopidae, Certhiidae, Columbidae, Hirundinidae, Regulidae, Strigidae, Motacillidae, Muscicapidae, Phalacrocoracidae, Aegithalidae, Scotocercidae, Emberizidae, Falconidae, Apodidae, Turdidae, Psittaculidae, Paridae, Picidae, Ardeidae, Cisticolidae, Sturnidae, Meropidae |
Temporal Coverage
| Start Date / End Date | 2023-03-28 / 2023-05-10 |
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Project Data
No Description available
| Title | Soundscape - The Symphony of Birds in Montpellier |
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The personnel involved in the project:
Sampling Methods
Bird surveys were carried out using standardized point count protocols. At each sampling point, observers recorded all birds seen or heard during fixed 10-minute sessions. Counts were repeated across multiple visits to account for temporal variability in bird detectability and activity. Environmental variables such as temperature and cloud cover were recorded during each survey session. Although acoustic recordings were collected as part of the broader ecoacoustic project, only field-based bird observations are included in this dataset.
| Study Extent | The study was conducted within the Montpellier metropolitan area in southern France. Sampling sites were distributed along gradients of urbanization and green infrastructure, including urban parks, residential areas, and peri-urban environments. The spatial design aimed to capture variation in habitat structure and urban intensity influencing bird community composition. |
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Method step description:
- Field data were first standardized and aggregated by sampling point, visit, date, and species. Abundance values were summed within each 10-minute count session. Absence data were generated by completing the species × sampling event matrix to ensure consistent occurrence reporting. Geographic coordinates were converted to decimal degrees (WGS84), and dates were standardized to ISO format. Taxonomic names were harmonized using the TAXREF reference database before export to Darwin Core format for publication through GBIF.
Additional Metadata
| Alternative Identifiers | https://ipt.gbif.fr/resource?r=symphonie_jyb |
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