Citizen Science: A Tool for Integrating Studies of Human and Natural Systems

Crain, Rhiannon; Cooper, Caren B.; Dickinson, Janis L.

doi:10.1146/annurev-environ-030713-154609

Cited by 122 publications

(100 citation statements)

References 122 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Especially exciting are recent advances in techniques for citizen science and for sensing, cataloging, and sharing ecological data from local to global (Fraser et al 2013, Crain et al 2014, Cristescu 2014, Turner 2014, McGill et al 2015. Macroecological study of anthroecological processes (Burnside et al 2012) is increasingly supported by powerful tools for ''big data'' analytics, including the rise and spread of behaviorally modern humans using paleogenomics (Pa¨a¨bo 2014) and the structure of human social networks, including changes in social centrality (Schich et al 2014), the crowdsourcing of ecological questions and experiments (Fraser et al 2013, Sutherland et al 2013, and new methods for integrative global synthesis, including more powerful forms of meta-study (Magliocca et al 2015) and global geospatial data and analytics (Verburg et al 2011, Martin et al 2012, Schmill et al 2014.…”

Section: Ecological Science In An Anthropogenic Biospherementioning

confidence: 99%

Ecology in an anthropogenic biosphere

Ellis

2015

Ecological Monographs

486

510

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. Humans, unlike any other multicellular species in Earth's history, have emerged as a global force that is transforming the ecology of an entire planet. It is no longer possible to understand, predict, or successfully manage ecological pattern, process, or change without understanding why and how humans reshape these over the long term. Here, a general causal theory is presented to explain why human societies gained the capacity to globally alter the patterns, processes, and dynamics of ecology and how these anthropogenic alterations unfold over time and space as societies themselves change over human generational time. Building on existing theories of ecosystem engineering, niche construction, inclusive inheritance, cultural evolution, ultrasociality, and social change, this theory of anthroecological change holds that sociocultural evolution of subsistence regimes based on ecosystem engineering, social specialization, and non-kin exchange, or ''sociocultural niche construction,'' is the main cause of both the long-term upscaling of human societies and their unprecedented transformation of the biosphere. Human sociocultural niche construction can explain, where classic ecological theory cannot, the sustained transformative effects of human societies on biogeography, ecological succession, ecosystem processes, and the ecological patterns and processes of landscapes, biomes, and the biosphere. Anthroecology theory generates empirically testable hypotheses on the forms and trajectories of long-term anthropogenic ecological change that have significant theoretical and practical implications across the subdisciplines of ecology and conservation. Though still at an early stage of development, anthroecology theory aligns with and integrates established theoretical frameworks including social-ecological systems, social metabolism, countryside biogeography, novel ecosystems, and anthromes. The ''fluxes of nature'' are fast becoming ''cultures of nature.'' To investigate, understand, and address the ultimate causes of anthropogenic ecological change, not just the consequences, human sociocultural processes must become as much a part of ecological theory and practice as biological and geophysical processes are now. Strategies for achieving this goal and for advancing ecological science and conservation in an increasingly anthropogenic biosphere are presented.

show abstract

Section: Ecological Science In An Anthropogenic Biospherementioning

confidence: 99%

Ecology in an anthropogenic biosphere

Ellis

2015

Ecological Monographs

486

510

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The field of citizen science, a form of public participation in scientific research, has grown in recent years as tools have become more available for dispersing information about projects and gathering data from the public (Bonney et al 2014, Crain et al 2014, Loss et al 2015, Wiggins and Crowston 2015. The largest and some of the most successful citizen-science programs, including eBird, the Christmas Bird Count, Project Feeder Watch, and the Breeding Bird Survey, are in the field of ornithology (Tulloch et al 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparing the results of recall surveys and standardized searches in understanding bird-window collisions at houses

Kummer¹,

Bayne²,

Machtans³

2016

ACE

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

ABSTRACT. Every year a large number of birds die when they collide with windows. The actual number is difficult to ascertain. Previous attempts to estimate bird-window collision rates in Canada relied heavily on a prior citizen-science study that used memorybased surveys. Such an approach to data collection has many potential biases. We built upon this study and its recommendations for future research by creating a citizen-science program that actively searched for collision evidence at houses and apartments for an extended period with the objective to see how standardized approaches to data collection compared with memory recall. Absolute collision estimates as well as relative differences were compared between residence types in the two studies, and we found considerable differences in absolute values for collisions but similar rankings of collision rates between residence types. Collision recall rates in our study (56.5%) were very similar those in the prior 2012 study, where 50.5% of participants remembered a bird colliding with a window at some time in the past. Fatality estimates, however, were 1.4 times higher in the 2012 study than in our study based on standardized searches. Rural houses with a bird feeder consistently had the highest number of collisions. This suggests that memory recall surveys may be a useful tool for understanding the relative importance of different risk factors causing bird-window collisions. Comparaison des résultats de relevés fondés sur le souvenir et de recherches standardisées dans la compréhension des collisions d'oiseaux avec les fenêtres de maisonsRÉSUMÉ. Chaque année, un grand nombre d'oiseaux meurent à la suite d'une collision avec une fenêtre. Or, ce nombre d'oiseaux morts est difficile à établir. Au Canada, les essais antérieurs destinés à estimer le taux de collisions d'oiseaux avec les fenêtres reposaient grandement sur une étude à participation citoyenne qui utilisait des relevés fondés sur le souvenir. Ce genre d'approche pour récolter des données comporte de nombreux biais potentiels. À partir de cette étude et de ses recommandations pour des recherches futures, nous avons créé un programme de science citoyenne fondé sur une recherche active d'indices de collisions avec les maisons et les appartements sur une longue période; notre objectif était de comparer l'approche de collecte de données standardisée par rapport à celle reposant sur le souvenir. Les estimations absolues de collisions et les différences relatives ont été comparées entre les divers types d'habitation dans les deux études et nous avons trouvé des différences considérables dans les valeurs absolues de collisions, mais des différences relatives similaires dans les taux de collisions entre les deux types d'habitation. Les taux de collisions fondés sur le souvenir des citoyens dans notre étude (56,5 %) étaient très semblables à ceux de l'étude de 2012, dans laquelle 50,5 % des participants se souvenaient de la collision d'un oiseau avec une fenêtre à un moment donné dans le passé. Toutefois, les estim...

show abstract

“…Crowdsourcing and human sensing are two commonly used concepts siting at the center of citizen science [37,38]. One of the significant characteristics of citizen science is the wide coverage of participation of people from the public.…”

Section: Improving Als Observation Based On Existing Sensing Technmentioning

confidence: 99%

eFarm: A Tool for Better Observing Agricultural Land Systems

Shi

Tang

et al. 2017

Sensors

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Currently, observations of an agricultural land system (ALS) largely depend on remotely-sensed images, focusing on its biophysical features. While social surveys capture the socioeconomic features, the information was inadequately integrated with the biophysical features of an ALS and the applications are limited due to the issues of cost and efficiency to carry out such detailed and comparable social surveys at a large spatial coverage. In this paper, we introduce a smartphone-based app, called eFarm: a crowdsourcing and human sensing tool to collect the geotagged ALS information at the land parcel level, based on the high resolution remotely-sensed images. We illustrate its main functionalities, including map visualization, data management, and data sensing. Results of the trial test suggest the system works well. We believe the tool is able to acquire the human–land integrated information which is broadly-covered and timely-updated, thus presenting great potential for improving sensing, mapping, and modeling of ALS studies.

show abstract

Citizen Science: A Tool for Integrating Studies of Human and Natural Systems

Cited by 122 publications

References 122 publications

Ecology in an anthropogenic biosphere

Ecology in an anthropogenic biosphere

Comparing the results of recall surveys and standardized searches in understanding bird-window collisions at houses

eFarm: A Tool for Better Observing Agricultural Land Systems

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About