Brown Pelican Highway Groundings in South Texas: Citizen Science Monitoring

South Texas citizen scientists monitored State Highway 48 for six years during fall and winter to record brown pelican collisions and mortalities. Bradley E. Beer authored this study examining the effect of barrier modifications and weather variables on groundings. The dataset likely contains counts of downed birds and associated weather measurements.

Use Cases

• Analyze the relationship between bird groundings and daily maximum wind speed based on weather variables mentioned
• Evaluate the effectiveness of T2P railings versus concrete single-slope traffic railings based on barrier change analysis
• Model the negative relationship between bird groundings and daily minimum air temperature based on findings
• Study the temporal patterns of avian mortality during adverse weather conditions based on the six-year monitoring period

Strengths

• Six-year monitoring period during fall and winter seasons provides longitudinal data
• Citizen science methodology likely ensures consistent on-site observation records
• Analysis includes specific weather variables: daily maximum wind speed, minimum air temperature, and average air pressure

Limitations

• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download
• Data scope is limited to a single highway bridge in south Texas

Provenance

Source

Bradley E. Beer

Collection Method

Citizen scientists monitored sections of SH 48 during adverse weather conditions.

Time Range

Monitoring continued for 6 years during fall and winter.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-16 11:20:31; freshness should be verified

Geography

State Highway 48 (SH 48) at the Carl 'Joe' Gayman Bridge in south Texas.