Towards ecological science for all by all

Thornhill, Ian; Cornelissen, Johannes H. C.; McPherson, Jana; MacBride-Stewart, Sara; Mohamad, Zeeda Fatimah; White, Hannah J.; Wiersma, Yolanda F.

doi:10.1111/1365-2664.13841

Cited by 6 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 92 publications

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“…Many projects struggle to meet the stringent requirements of decisionmakers who are sceptical about the quality of citizen science data, as these can be prone to greater variability than information gathered by professionals (Bird et al, 2014;Parrish et al, 2018). One mechanism to improve the quality of citizen science data is to develop protocols and procedures for improving how the data are collected (Thornhill et al, 2021). The New Zealand Garden Bird Survey, the data source for our case study, is unique among local citizen science initiatives in being the only one to implement an annual survey monitoring multiple species nationwide at a standardized time of year and using a standardized protocol.…”

Section: Addressing Recommendations To Help Realize Citizen Science's...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the state of New Zealand's garden birds from national to local scales

MacLeod

Green

Howard

et al. 2022

Ecol Sol and Evidence

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Better biodiversity indicators are needed to address information gaps, describe trends accurately and robustly and be useful for decisionmakers. Citizen science's potential to help address these challenges often goes unrealized, despite promises by organizers to deliver such information. This paper addresses these challenges by demonstrating the powerful utility of citizen science results for improving our knowledge of the state of New Zealand's garden birds, from the national to the local scale. For 14 species and three annual assessments, we: (a) calculate changes in bird counts over the medium to short term (over 10 and 5 years, respectively); (b) use an alert system to identify trends of interest or concern and collate the assessments in an online interactive tool; and (c) apply the results to address management questions. Seven species have declined nationally in gardens in the medium term, but the population trends of six of these have improved in the short term (the declines of three have been reversed). For Otago, as a regional example, a wider range of medium‐term alerts was initially raised, and positive short‐term changes were also more evident. Performance differed across Otago's districts: positive increases were muted in Dunedin City, while Waitaki had the highest number of increasing species and Central Otago more species rapidly increasing. For 54 neighbourhoods managed by Predator Free Dunedin, as a local example, the baseline medium‐term assessment detected rapid declines in two species, moderate to shallow declines in five species and increases in three species. Based on these findings, managers could improve benefits for biodiversity by using: (a) trends, to direct and evaluate policy investments; (b) benchmarks, to provide social incentives; and (c) targets, to give management purpose and direction. Our case study highlights how citizen science can address biodiversity information gaps and make powerful management contributions at scale by delivering metrics that are robust and comparable across time and space, showing decisionmakers how to readily access and interpret information of interest, building trust and value and highlighting how spatially hierarchical assessments can facilitate multiple end‐user benefits.

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Section: Addressing Recommendations To Help Realize Citizen Science's...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the state of New Zealand's garden birds from national to local scales

MacLeod

Green

Howard

et al. 2022

Ecol Sol and Evidence

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Human activity is influencing biodiversity turnover across the globe (Dornelas et al 2014;Keil et al 2015;Kaarlejärvi et al 2021). Monitoring biodiversity at large spatial and temporal scales is central to understanding the magnitude of change, and is important in conservation planning and resource allocation by decision-makers (Parr et al 2002;Petersen et al 2021;Thornhill et al 2021). To understand species status and monitor change requires high-quality data.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nowadays, the popular practice of engaging volunteers in a scientific project is commonly regarded as 'citizen science' (Cohn 2008) which can generate 'community contributed data'. Citizen (or 'community') scientists can assist with the collection of biodiversity data on large spatial and temporal scales that would otherwise not be feasible using small-scale studies (Cohn 2008;Pocock et al 2017;Dobson et al 2020;Thornhill et al 2021). Citizen science projects can vary in their objectives and methodological approaches, and, as with any dataset, can be subject to errors and biases imposed by observational processes (Oliveira et al 2016;Dobson et al 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For instance, sophisticated analytical tools have emerged in recent years to assist data users to assess (e.g., Boyd et al 2021) and address (e.g., Bird et al 2014;Geldmann et al 2016) sampling errors and biases within observation datasets. Datasets derived from citizen science projects can therefore complement small-scale systematic monitoring and are important sources of observation data, usable by scientists and resource-managers for monitoring biodiversity change (Roy et al 2012;Bonney et al 2014;Burgess et al 2017;McKinley et al 2017;Tredick et al 2017;Thornhill et al 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The value of citizen science, combined with a surge in technological innovation, has increased the diversity of projects that generate data in recent years (Kosmala et al 2016;McKinley et al 2017;Pocock et al 2017;Thornhill et al 2021). Data management has also evolved with the increased wealth of biodiversity data.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Diversity, fragmentation, and connectivity across the UK amphibian and reptile data management landscape

Turner

Griffiths

Wilkinson³

et al. 2022

Biodivers Conserv

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Large-scale biodiversity monitoring remains a challenge in science and policy. ‘Biodiversity Observation Networks’ provide an integrated infrastructure for monitoring biodiversity through timely discovery, access, and re-use of data, but their establishment relies on an in-depth understanding of existing monitoring effort. We performed a scoping review and network analysis to assess the scope of available data on amphibians and reptiles in the UK and catalogue the mobilisation of information across the data landscape, thereby highlighting existing gaps. The monitoring portfolio has grown rapidly in recent decades, with over three times as many data sources than there are amphibian and reptile species in the UK now available. We identified 45 active sources of ‘FAIR’ (‘Findable’, ‘Accessible’, ‘Interoperable’ and ‘Reusable’) data. The taxonomic, geographic and temporal coverage of datasets appears largely uneven and no single source is currently suitable for producing robust multispecies assessments on large scales. A dynamic and patchy exchange of data occurs between different recording projects, recording communities and digital data platforms. The National Biodiversity Network Atlas is a highly connected source but the scope of its data (re-)use is potentially limited by insufficient accompanying metadata. The emerging complexity and fragmented nature of this dynamic data landscape is likely to grow without a concerted effort to integrate existing activities. The factors driving this complexity extend beyond the UK and to other facets of biodiversity. We recommend integration and greater stakeholder collaboration behind a coordinated infrastructure for data collection, storage and analysis, capable of delivering comprehensive assessments for large-scale biodiversity monitoring.

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Applied citizen science in freshwater research

et al. 2022

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Worldwide, scientists are increasingly collaborating with the general public. Citizen science methods are readily applicable to freshwater research, monitoring, and education. In addition to providing cost-effective data on spatial and temporal scales that are otherwise unattainable, citizen science provides unique opportunities for engagement with local communities and stakeholders in resource management and decision-making. However, these methods are not infallible. Citizen science projects require deliberate planning in order to collect high data quality and sustain meaningful community partnerships. Citizen science practitioners also have an ethical responsibility to ensure that projects are not putting the safety of participants at stake. We discuss here how citizen science is being applied in freshwater research, emerging challenges in project planning and implementation, as well as how citizen science is shaping public understanding, policy, and management of freshwaters.

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Towards ecological science for all by all

Cited by 6 publications

References 92 publications

Assessing the state of New Zealand's garden birds from national to local scales

Assessing the state of New Zealand's garden birds from national to local scales

Diversity, fragmentation, and connectivity across the UK amphibian and reptile data management landscape

Applied citizen science in freshwater research

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