Dataset Information

The value of citizen science for ecological monitoring of mammals.

ABSTRACT: Citizen science approaches are of great interest for their potential to efficiently and sustainably monitor wildlife populations on both public and private lands. Here we present two studies that worked with volunteers to set camera traps for ecological surveys. The photographs recorded by these citizen scientists were archived and verified using the eMammal software platform, providing a professional grade, vouchered database of biodiversity records. Motivated by managers' concern with perceived high bear activity, our first example enlisted the help of homeowners in a short-term study to compare black bear activity inside a National Historic Site with surrounding private land. We found similar levels of bear activity inside and outside the NHS, and regional comparisons suggest the bear population is typical. Participants benefited from knowing their local bear population was normal and managers refocused bear management given this new information. Our second example is a continuous survey of wildlife using the grounds of a nature education center that actively manages habitat to maintain a grassland prairie. Center staff incorporated the camera traps into educational programs, involving visitors with camera setup and picture review. Over two years and 5,968 camera-nights this survey has collected 41,393 detections of 14 wildlife species. Detection rates and occupancy were higher in open habitats compared to forest, suggesting that the maintenance of prairie habitat is beneficial to some species. Over 500 volunteers of all ages participated in this project over two years. Some of the greatest benefits have been to high school students, exemplified by a student with autism who increased his communication and comfort level with others through field work with the cameras. These examples show how, with the right tools, training and survey design protocols, citizen science can be used to answer a variety of applied management questions while connecting participants with their secretive mammal neighbors.

SUBMITTER: Parsons AW

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5878931 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

The value of citizen science for ecological monitoring of mammals.

Parsons Arielle Waldstein AW Goforth Christine C Costello Robert R Kays Roland R

PeerJ 20180329

Citizen science approaches are of great interest for their potential to efficiently and sustainably monitor wildlife populations on both public and private lands. Here we present two studies that worked with volunteers to set camera traps for ecological surveys. The photographs recorded by these citizen scientists were archived and verified using the eMammal software platform, providing a professional grade, vouchered database of biodiversity records. Motivated by managers' concern with perceive ...[more]

PMID: 29610706

Similar Datasets

Project description:Citizen science-the involvement of volunteers in data collection, analysis and interpretation-simultaneously supports research and public engagement with science, and its profile is rapidly rising. Citizen science represents a diverse range of approaches, but until now this diversity has not been quantitatively explored. We conducted a systematic internet search and discovered 509 environmental and ecological citizen science projects. We scored each project for 32 attributes based on publicly obtainable information and used multiple factor analysis to summarise this variation to assess citizen science approaches. We found that projects varied according to their methodological approach from 'mass participation' (e.g. easy participation by anyone anywhere) to 'systematic monitoring' (e.g. trained volunteers repeatedly sampling at specific locations). They also varied in complexity from approaches that are 'simple' to those that are 'elaborate' (e.g. provide lots of support to gather rich, detailed datasets). There was a separate cluster of entirely computer-based projects but, in general, we found that the range of citizen science projects in ecology and the environment showed continuous variation and cannot be neatly categorised into distinct types of activity. While the diversity of projects begun in each time period (pre 1990, 1990-99, 2000-09 and 2010-13) has not increased, we found that projects tended to have become increasingly different from each other as time progressed (possibly due to changing opportunities, including technological innovation). Most projects were still active so consequently we found that the overall diversity of active projects (available for participation) increased as time progressed. Overall, understanding the landscape of citizen science in ecology and the environment (and its change over time) is valuable because it informs the comparative evaluation of the 'success' of different citizen science approaches. Comparative evaluation provides an evidence-base to inform the future development of citizen science activities.

Project description:Subtropical reefs provide an important habitat for flora and fauna, and proper monitoring is required for conservation. Monitoring these exposed and submerged reefs is challenging and available resources are limited. Citizen science is increasing in momentum, as an applied research tool and in the variety of monitoring approaches adopted. This paper aims to demonstrate an ecological assessment and mapping approach that incorporates both top-down (volunteer marine scientists) and bottom-up (divers/community) engagement aspects of citizen science, applied at a subtropical reef at Point Lookout, Southeast Queensland, Australia. Marine scientists trained fifty citizen scientists in survey techniques that included mapping of habitat features, recording of substrate, fish and invertebrate composition, and quantifying impacts (e.g., occurrence of substrate damage, presence of litter). In 2014 these volunteers conducted four seasonal surveys along semi-permanent transects, at five sites, across three reefs. The project presented is a model on how citizen science can be conducted in a marine environment through collaboration of volunteer researchers, non-researchers and local marine authorities. Significant differences in coral and algal cover were observed among the three sites, while fluctuations in algal cover were also observed seasonally. Differences in fish assemblages were apparent among sites and seasons, with subtropical fish groups observed more commonly in colder seasons. The least physical damage occurred in the most exposed sites (Flat Rock) within the highly protected marine park zones. The broad range of data collected through this top-down/bottom-up approach to citizen science exemplifies the projects' value and application for identifying ecosystem trends or patterns. The results of the project support natural resource and marine park management, providing a valuable contribution to existing scientific knowledge and the conservation of local reefs.

Project description:Climate change and invasive species threaten biodiversity, yet rigorous monitoring of their impact can be costly. Citizen science is increasingly used as a tool for monitoring exotic species, because citizens are geographically and temporally dispersed, whereas scientists tend to cluster in museums and at universities. Here we report on the establishment of the first exotic ant taxon (Tetramorium immigrans) in Denmark, which was discovered by children participating in The Ant Hunt. The Ant Hunt is a citizen science project for children that we ran in 2017 and 2018, with a pilot study in 2015. T. immigrans was discovered in the Botanical Garden of the Natural History Museum of Denmark in 2015 and confirmed as established in 2018. This finding extends the northern range boundary of T. immigrans by almost 460 km. Using climatic niche modelling, we compared the climatic niche of T. immigrans in Europe with that of T. caespitum based on confirmed observations from 2006 to 2019. T. immigrans and T. caespitum had a 13% niche overlap, with T. immigrans showing stronger occurrence in warmer and drier areas compared to T. caespitum. Mapping the environmental niches onto geographic space identified several, currently uninhabited, areas as climatically suitable for the establishment of T. immigrans. Tetramorium immigrans was sampled almost three times as often in areas with artificial surfaces compared to T. caespitum, suggesting that T. immigrans may not be native to all of Europe and is being accidentally introduced by humans. Overall, citizen scientists collected data on ants closer to cities and harbours than scientists did and had a stronger bias towards areas of human disturbance. This increased sampling effort in areas of likely introduction of exotic species naturally increases the likelihood of discovering species sooner, making citizen science an excellent tool for exotic species monitoring, as long as trained scientists are involved in the identification process.

Dataset Information

The value of citizen science for ecological monitoring of mammals.

Publications

The value of citizen science for ecological monitoring of mammals.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets