Small sight—Big might: Economic impact of bird tourism shows opportunities for rural communities and biodiversity conservation

S1 Code. R-code used for AVSP data analysis and ebird data. (RMD) Acknowledgments This publication would not have been possible without the 5,917 respondents to the Alaska Visitor Statistics Program survey conducted in 2016. We thank Aaron Lang for editing and helpful insights into the bird tourism sector in Alaska. We are thankful to Brad Meiklejohn for providing valuable insights about Alaska’s Important Bird Areas and top bird watching desti- nations. Dr. Katherine Christie and Zak Pohlen contributed to describing seasonality using ebird data. Victoria Elmore prepared Fig 1. We would also like to thank two anonymous reviewers for their constructive feedback. Author Contributions Conceptualization: Tobias Schwoerer, Natalie G. Dawson. Formal analysis: Tobias Schwoerer. Funding acquisition: Natalie G. Dawson. Investigation: Tobias Schwoerer. Methodology: Tobias Schwoerer. Project administration: Tobias Schwoerer. Writing – original draft: Tobias Schwoerer. Writing – review & editing: Tobias Schwoerer, Natalie G. Dawson. References 1. White EM, Bowker JM, Askew AE, Langner LL, Arnold JR, English DBK. Federal Outdoor Recreation Trends: Effects on Economic Opportunities. Portland, OR: USDA Forest Service Northwest Pacific Research Station; 2016. Report No.: November. Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/pubs/pnw_ gtr945.pdf. 2. USFWS. 2016 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and U.S. Department of Com-

merce, U.S. Census Bureau; 2018 p. 144. Report No.: FHW/16-NAT. Available: https://wsfrprograms. fws.gov/Subpages/NationalSurvey/nat_survey2016.pdf. 3. Ballantyne R, Packer J, Hughes K. Tourists’ support for conservation messages and sustainable man- agement practices in wildlife tourism experiences. Tourism Manage. 2009; 30: 658–664. https://doi.org/ 10.1016/j.tourman.2008.11.003 4. Cakar K, Uzut I. A conceptual analysis of birdwatching as a nature-based tourism activity. International Symposium on Advancements in Tourism, Recreation, and Sports Sciences. 2018. 5. Glowinski SL. BIRD-WaTChINg, ECOTOuRISm, aND ECONOmIC DEVElOPmENT: a REVIEW OF ThE EVIDENCE. 2008 [cited 29 Jun 2021]. Available: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/ Avitourism-opportunities-as-a-contribution-to-and-a-Gupta-Everard/ c6f949d32420540ade378ff96c85cc59e3f2e775. 6. Carver E. Birding in the United States: A Demographic and Economic Analysis. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Policy, Risk Management, and Analytics (PERMA); 2019. Report No.: 2016–2. Available: https://digitalmedia.fws.gov/digital/collection/document/id/2252. 7. Vas K. Birding Trails as Sustainable Tourism Development. OIDA International Journal of Sustainable Development. 2013;6. Available: https://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=2352954. 8. IPBES. Global assessment report on biodiversity and ecosystem services of the Intergovernmental Sci- ence-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. Brondizio ES, Settele J, Dı´az S And Ngo PLOS ONE Economic impact of bird tourism in Alaska

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