Social media data for conservation science: A methodological overview

Toivonen, Tuuli; Heikinheimo, Vuokko; Fink, Christoph; Hausmann, Anna; Hiippala, Tuomo; Järv, Olle; Tenkanen, Henrikki; Minin, Enrico Di

doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2019.01.023

Cited by 342 publications

(283 citation statements)

References 104 publications

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“…Wildlife watching is intrinsically linked with taking photographs, which creates opportunities to collect important baseline data for ecological research at unprecedented spatial and temporal scales (Dickinson et al, 2012;Toivonen et al, 2019). Photo-identification is a minimally invasive approach used to identify unique individuals in a given population, and has become widely adopted by the scientific community, from research on seadragons to giraffes (Martin-Smith, 2011;Halloran et al, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This approach is also providing opportunities for the public to become directly involved in projects as citizen scientists, by contributing their photographs and increasing the quantity of available data (Holmberg et al, 2008). The ubiquity of mobile phones and image sharing (photographs and videos) on social media presents another emerging image-based resource for use in conservation science (Di Minin et al, 2015;Toivonen et al, 2019). This medium has great potential to provide qualitative and quantitative information about various human-wildlife interactions, including recreational fishing (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Social media reveals consistently disproportionate tourism pressure on a threatened marine vertebrate

Papafitsoros

Panagopoulou²,

Schofield

2020

Preprint

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Establishing how wildlife viewing pressure is distributed across individual animals within a population can inform the management of this activity, and ensure targeted individuals or groups are sufficiently protected. Here, we used social media data to quantify whether tourism pressure varies in a loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) population and elucidate potential implications. Laganas Bay (Zakynthos, Greece) supports both breeding (migratory, and hence transient) and foraging (resident) turtles, with turtle viewing representing a major component of the tourism industry. Social media entries spanning two seasons (April to November, 2018 and 2019) were evaluated, and turtles were identified via photo-identification. For both years, 1684 and 2105 entries of 139 and 122 unique turtles were obtained from viewings, respectively (boats and underwater combined). However, while residents represented less than one-third of uniquely identified turtles, they represented 81.9% and 87.9% of all entries. Even when the seasonal breeding population was present (May to July), residents represented more than 60% entries. Of note, the same small number of resident turtles (<10), mostly males, were consistently viewed in both years; however, different individuals were targeted by boats versus underwater. Thus, turtles appear to use and remain in the area despite high viewing intensity, possibly indicating low disturbance. However, photo-identification records revealed a high risk of propeller and boat strike to residents (30%) leading to trauma and mortality. To reduce this threat and ease viewing pressure, we recommend the compulsory use of propeller guards for all boats and the creation of temporary "refuge" zones for resident animals at viewing hotspots, with these suggestions likely being relevant for other wildlife with similar population dynamics. In conclusion, social media represents a useful tool for monitoring individuals at a population scale, evaluating the pressure under which they are placed, and providing sufficient data to refine wildlife viewing guidelines and/or zoning.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social media reveals consistently disproportionate tourism pressure on a threatened marine vertebrate

Papafitsoros

Panagopoulou²,

Schofield

2020

Preprint

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“…Although social media and online PPGIS platforms have both been shown to be useful tools for assessing the spatial distribution of values, each has their pros and cons. Social media data are less costly to collect and therefore allow the elicitation of values from a much larger pool of potential users on a broader scale (Toivonen et al, 2019). Social media data have been used to quantify nature‐based tourism and recreation (Wood, Guerry, Silver, & Lacayo, 2013), tourism flows (Hawelka et al, 2014) or for mapping destinations and events that are highly visited by the public (Kisilevich, Keim, Andrienko, & Andrienko, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using crowdsourced spatial data from Flickr vs. PPGIS for understanding nature's contribution to people in Southern Norway

et al. 2020

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“…We performed qualitative and quantitative analysis of the show's content and analyzed Twitter and Wikipedia big data activity to evaluate audience reactions to the broadcast and subsequent engagement for information (Okoli, Mehdi, Mesgari, Nielsen, & Lanamäki, ; Toivonen et al., ). As messages delivered through television and other media are considered transient (de Lange et al., ), we then investigated whether the show instigated longer‐term changes in public awareness (i.e., beyond the broadcast of the show) and proactive behaviors (Nilsson, Fielding, & Dean, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Natural history films raise species awareness—A big data approach

Fernández‐Bellon

Kane

2019

CONSERVATION LETTERS

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In urbanized societies that are increasingly disconnected from nature, communicating ecological and species awareness is crucial to revert the global environmental crisis. However, our understanding of the effectiveness of this process is limited. We present a framework for describing how such awareness may be transferred and test it on the popular BBC show Planet Earth 2 by analyzing Twitter and Wikipedia big data activity. Despite lacking explicit conservation themes, this show generated species awareness, stimulating audience engagement for information at magnitudes comparable to those achieved by other conservation‐focused campaigns. Results suggest that natural history films can provide vicarious connections to nature and can generate durable shifts in audience awareness beyond the broadcast of the show—key factors for changing environmental attitudes. More broadly, this study underscores how open‐source big data analysis can inform effective dissemination of ecological awareness and provides a framework for future research for investigating behavioral change.

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Social media data for conservation science: A methodological overview

Cited by 342 publications

References 104 publications

Social media reveals consistently disproportionate tourism pressure on a threatened marine vertebrate

Social media reveals consistently disproportionate tourism pressure on a threatened marine vertebrate

Using crowdsourced spatial data from Flickr vs. PPGIS for understanding nature's contribution to people in Southern Norway

Natural history films raise species awareness—A big data approach

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