Citizen science delivers high-value biosecurity surveillance and reporting capability

Abstract

Context Early surveillance and the detection of incursions of species of biosecurity concern are a crucial component of an effective biosecurity system. Citizen science represents an opportunity to engage communities in biosecurity, and to provide mechanisms for citizen scientists to contribute to both monitoring the spread of species already present in country, and reporting new incursions. Aims To present an example of how citizen science is being used for environmental biosecurity surveillance in Australia and showcase the value of large data services such as the Atlas of Living Australia (ALA), as a connector between citizen science and management. Methods We detail how the alert email system was set up, using a bespoke solution implemented in the R programming language. The system works by querying the ALA database for species that match lists provided by management authorities. Alerts can be sent out at national, state/territory and local government scales, as well as defined spatial areas such as national park estates. Key results Twelve months in, the top source for alerts comes from iNaturalist (a popular global biodiversity citizen-science platform), with other contributions from a set of biodiversity-reporting applications. Over a 12-month period, the alerts service has provided notifications for over 150 species, including the first public record of an invasive species in Australia. Conclusions Systems such as the Biosecurity Alerts Service, provide impact through the connection between communities and decision-making. Implications Our findings showed how the advancement of citizen science is interconnected with the advancement of research infrastructure and will ultimately lead to greater scientific and management value of citizen-science data.