Participatory Monitoring—A Citizen Science Approach for Coastal Environments

Abstract

In this article the authors share their experiences, results, and lessons learned during the creation of a coastal biodiversity participatory monitoring initiative. Throughout 2019, we delivered five training workshops to 51 citizen scientists. Data collected by the citizens scientists were validated by checking its similarities against that gathered by specialists. High similarity values were found, indicating that, if proper training is provided, there is a great potential for citizen scientists to contribute biodiversity data with high value. During this process a certain level of variation in data produced by specialists was found, drawing attention to the need for prior alignment among specialists who may offer training for citizens. In addition, despite overall similar results between specialists and participants, some differences emerged in particular parts of the habitat; for example, the bivalve zones presented higher complexity and hence greater challenge. Identifying key challenges for participants is key to developing appropriate citizen science protocols. Here it is provided preliminary evidence that supports the use of the monitoring protocol to obtain biodiversity data gathered by citizen scientists, assuring its scientific quality. Enhancing participation by the community and specialists is key to further validate the approach and to effectively expand such protocols, enhancing the level of biodiversity data collection. In order to promote participation, and maintain citizen scientist engagement in the initiative, it is recommended the development of new investigations that assess the interests and motivations of the public to take part. It is also fundamentally important to have an effective strategy to communicate the results of participants’ monitoring and their applicability to local and global issues, thus maximizing the continuity of engagement of citizen scientists.

Understanding technological, cultural, and environmental motivators explaining the adoption of citizen science apps for coastal environment monitoring

“…To the best of our knowledge, this research is the first to create a comprehensive, tailor-made, conceptual model for CS apps, thereby addressing the gap identified in the literature regarding what drives citizens' engagement for participating in CS initiatives within the scope of environmental monitoring (Kasten et al, 2021). Coastal ecosystems are widely affected by climate change and other anthropogenic pressures, as they are subject to land and sea-based activities (He & Silliman, 2019).…”

“…Data quality may be compromised by poor project design, varying data quality standards, non-experts' lack of commitment and skills, deliberate provision of fabricated data, and others (Balázs et al, 2021;Weber et al, 2019). Still, project elements and digital platforms can be designed to avoid, detect, and correct data issues (Kosmala et al, 2016;San Llorente Capdevila et al, 2020;Kasten et al, 2021). Relatedly, insufficient funding and resources are often pointed out owing to CS projects' duration (usually these are long-term projects and funding is temporary), and difficulty in evaluating them following the traditional funding frameworks (Gunnell et al, 2021;Hecker et al, 2018;Turrini et al, 2018).…”

“…For instance, Kasten et al (2021) conducted a participatory coastal biodiversity monitoring project with>51 participants. They checked for similarities between their data and data collected by experts and concluded that higher complexity tasks could interfere with data quality and highlighted the importance of identifying participants' main challenges for developing adequate CS protocols.…”

Bibliometric Analysis on Ocean Literacy Studies for Marine Conservation

“…Finally, challenges to ocean education lie in people's cognitive divergence and moral disengagement, as well as the economic and political power forces against the environmental stewardship of oceans [28]. Therefore, it is very important to consider a strategy that effectively communicates to the community research results and their relevance to protecting the oceans and solving local and global problems, thus achieving better and more equitable social, cultural, economic, and environmental outcomes and ensuring continued citizen participation in science [29][30][31].…”

Biodiversity Monitoring in Mediterranean Marine Protected Areas: Scientific and Methodological Challenges

“…The rising awareness among common people about the actual meaning of biodiversity and the importance of its monitoring has recently led to the launch of citizen science projects, in which volunteers (e.g., students, fishermen, divers) are involved in gathering data that would otherwise be impossible to collect because of limitations of time and resources [183,184]. Proper training and validation and verification by taxonomic experts can provide quality-filtered data that improve taxonomic representation and the geographic breadth of species monitoring [185,186].…”