Abstract
Data streams arising from citizen reporting activities continue to grow, yet the information content within these streams remains unclear, and methods for addressing the inherent reporting biases little developed. Here, we quantify the major influence of physical insect features (colour, size, morphology, pattern) on the propensity of citizens to upload photographic sightings to online portals, and hence to contribute to biosecurity surveillance. After correcting for species availability, we show that physical features and pestiness are major predictors of reporting probability. The more distinctive the visual features, the higher the reporting probabilities—potentially providing useful surveillance should the species be an unwanted exotic. Conversely, the reporting probability for many small, nondescript high priority pest species is unlikely to be sufficient to contribute meaningfully to biosecurity surveillance, unless they are causing major harm. The lack of citizen reporting of recent incursions of small, nondescript exotic pests supports the model. By examining the types of insects of concern, industries or environmental managers can assess to what extent they can rely on citizen reporting for their surveillance needs. The citrus industry, for example, probably cannot rely on passive unstructured citizen data streams for surveillance of the Asian citrus psyllid (Diaphorina citri). In contrast, the forestry industry may consider that citizen detection and reporting of species of the large and colourful insects such as pine sawyers (Monochamus spp.) may be sufficient for their needs. Incorporating citizen surveillance into the general surveillance framework is an area for further research.
Highlights
Biosecurity surveillance aims to protect the natural environment, plants and animals, as well as agri- and horticulture from harm caused by pests and diseases (Froud et al 2008)
Citizens can potentially contribute to biosecurity surveillance in many ways, ranging from inadvertent references to invasive organisms on social media platforms (e.g. Twitter), to deliberate through unstructured reporting of species via dedicated online portals, to deliberate structured surveys (Welvaert and Caley 2016)
The potential surveillance power of the general public is evident from a New Zealand study, where nearly half of all new exotic species detections over a 3-year period were from members of the general public (Froud et al 2008)
Summary
Biosecurity surveillance aims to protect the natural environment, plants and animals, as well as agri- and horticulture from harm caused by pests and diseases (Froud et al 2008). Journal of Pest Science (2020) 93:543–550 insect pests is highly diffuse in that the number of target species is very large and the potential points of entry are numerous This presents particular logistical challenges for implementing effective surveillance—it is impossible to deploy targeted traditional surveillance (e.g. species specific traps, trained inspectors, etc.) for all threats in all locations. In a similar vein, Thomas et al (2017) recorded that 95% of non-indigenous invertebrate species new to Barrow Island were detected by members of the local community. Such surveillance contributes to what is termed “general surveillance” (Hammond et al 2016a)
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