Background 1. Colombia with 1941 known recorded bird species is one of the most species rich countries in the world. Efforts are necessary to conserve, study and promote sustainable use of this important taxonomic group throughout Colombia’s vast territory. 2. In an ideal world, informed decisions that are based on sound scientific information should be likelier to have successful outcomes. Nevertheless, there are barriers that make it difficult to access and use information in a timely fashion. Those same barriers impede the study, conservation and sustainable use of bird species in Colombia. On the other hand, given that there is good documentation about the ecology of a large number of species, information about the distribution of birds can be easily incorporated into decision-making processes, once this information becomes readily available in a consumable format using Geographic Information Sciences tools. 3. In this context, the main objective of this paper is to present the first compilation of the current distribution of 1889 (97%) species of birds in Colombia, using expert criteria. The shapefiles were used to show the distribution and diversity of bird species in Colombia under both geopolitical and conservation geographic units. 4. The information provided in this paper can be used as a baseline for a huge number of initiatives that aim to strengthen conservation efforts and improve knowledge about one the most unique taxonomic groups in the country. These range from land use planning strategies at the municipal or department scale to sustainable use of bird species - such as those initiatives related to bird watching - in Colombia. New information This study has considered three key aspects: 1) the importance of birds for Colombia’s ecosystems, 2) the privileged place of Colombia in bird species richness and 3) the importance of data mobilisation in formats easily consumable by Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to facilitate the processes of informed decision-making. We present the first compilation - in shapefile format - for 1889 of the 1941 bird species recorded from Colombia. Using this novel collection, we showed the species richness of birds in Colombia’s 33 Departments plus its Captial District (DPs), 1122 Municipalities (MNs), 58 protected areas (PAs), 39 Regional Autonomous Corporations (the authorities responsible within their respective jurisdictions for regulating the environment and renewable natural resources in Colombia; CARs) and 916 Collectively Titled Territories (including both indigenous reservations and afro-descendant communities; CTTs). In addition, we provide a list of known bird species richness for the above geographic units found in the available literature. The information provided here can be used as a baseline for a huge number of initiatives concerning the study, conservation and sustainable use of bird species present in Colombia, providing access to key features of bird distribution that should facilitate decision-making.

中文翻译：

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哥伦比亚鸟类分布

背景 1. 哥伦比亚拥有 1941 种已知记录的鸟类，是世界上物种最丰富的国家之一。必须努力在哥伦比亚广阔的领土上保护、研究和促进这一重要分类群的可持续利用。2. 在理想世界中，基于可靠科学信息的明智决策应该更有可能取得成功。然而，有一些障碍使得及时访问和使用信息变得困难。同样的障碍阻碍了哥伦比亚鸟类的研究、保护和可持续利用。另一方面，鉴于大量物种的生态有良好的记录，有关鸟类分布的信息可以很容易地纳入决策过程，一旦使用地理信息科学工具以可消耗的格式轻松获得此信息。3. 在此背景下，本文的主要目的是使用专家标准首次汇编哥伦比亚 1889 种（97%）鸟类的当前分布。shapefile 用于在地缘政治和保护地理单位下显示哥伦比亚鸟类的分布和多样性。4. 本文提供的信息可用作大量旨在加强保护工作和提高对该国最独特的分类群之一的了解的举措的基线。这些范围从市政或部门规模的土地利用规划战略到哥伦比亚的鸟类物种的可持续利用 - 例如与观鸟有关的举措。新信息 本研究考虑了三个关键方面：1) 鸟类对哥伦比亚生态系统的重要性，2) 哥伦比亚在鸟类物种丰富方面的得天独厚的地位，以及 3) 以地理信息系统 (GIS) 易于使用的格式进行数据调动的重要性促进知情决策的过程。我们以 shapefile 格式展示了哥伦比亚记录的 1941 种鸟类中的 1889 种的第一个汇编。使用这个新颖的集合，我们展示了哥伦比亚 33 个省及其首都区 (DP)、1122 个市 (MN)、58 个保护区 (PA)、39 个区域自治公司（在其各自管辖范围内负责监管哥伦比亚环境和可再生自然资源的当局；CAR）和 916 个集体所有权领土（包括土著保留地和非洲裔社区；CTT）。此外，我们提供了现有文献中上述地理单位的已知鸟类物种丰富度列表。此处提供的信息可用作有关哥伦比亚现有鸟类研究、保护和可持续利用的大量倡议的基线，提供对鸟类分布关键特征的访问，以促进决策。CARs）和 916 个集体命名的领土（包括土著保留地和非洲人后裔社区；CTTs）。此外，我们提供了现有文献中上述地理单位的已知鸟类物种丰富度列表。此处提供的信息可用作有关哥伦比亚现有鸟类研究、保护和可持续利用的大量倡议的基线，提供对鸟类分布关键特征的访问，以促进决策。CARs）和 916 个集体命名的领土（包括土著保留地和非洲人后裔社区；CTTs）。此外，我们提供了现有文献中上述地理单位的已知鸟类物种丰富度列表。此处提供的信息可用作有关哥伦比亚现有鸟类研究、保护和可持续利用的大量倡议的基线，提供对鸟类分布关键特征的访问，以促进决策。