Medically significant spiders (Arachnida: Araneae) and hymenopterans (Insecta: Hymenoptera) of Albania: A comprehensive review of ecology and venom toxicity

Currently Russia doesn't have a national biodiversity information system, and is still not a GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility) member. Nevertheless, GBIF is the largest source of biodiversity data for Russia. As of August 2020, >5M species occurrences were available through the GBIF portal, of which 54% were published by Russian organisations. There are 107 institutions from Russia that have become GBIF publishers and 357 datasets have been published. The important trend of data mobilization in Russia is driven by the considerable contribution of citizen science. The most popular platform is iNaturalist. This year, the related GBIF dataset (Ueda 2020) became the largest one for Russia (793,049 species occurrences as of 2020-08-11). The first observation for Russia was posted in 2011, but iNaturalist started becoming popular in 2017. That year, 88 observers added >4500 observations that represented 1390 new species for Russia, 7- and 2-fold more respectively, than for the previous 6 years. Now we have nearly 12,000 observers, about 15,000 observed species and >1M research-grade observations. The ratio of observations for Tracheophyta, Chordata, and Arthropoda in Russia is different compared to the global scale. There are almost an equal amount of observations in the global iNaturalist GBIF dataset for these groups. At the same time in Russia, vascular plants make up 2/3rds of the observations. That is due to the "Flora of Russia" project, which attracted many professional botanists both as observers and experts. Thanks to their activity, Russia has a high proportion of research-grade observations in iNaturalist, 78% versus 60% globally. Another consequence of wide participation by professional researchers is the high rate of species accumulation. For some taxonomic groups conspicuous species were already revealed. There are about 850 bird species in Russia of which 398 species were observed in 2018, and only 83 new species in 2019. Currently, the number of new species recorded over time is decreasing despite the increase in observers and overall user activity. Russian iNaturalist observers have shared a lot of archive photos (taken during past years). In 2018, it was nearly 1/4 of the total number of observations and about 3/4 of new species for the year, with similar trends observed during 2019. Usually archive photos are posted from December until April, but the 2020 pandemic lockdown spurred a new wave of archive photo mobilisation in April and May. There are many iNaturalist projects for protected areas in Russia: 27 for strict nature reserves and national parks, and about 300 for others. About 100,000 observations (7.5% of all Russian observations) from the umbrella project "Protected areas of Russia" represent >34% of the species diversity observed in Russia. For some regions, e.g., Novosibirsk, Nizhniy Novgorod and Vladimir Oblasts, almost all protected areas are covered by iNaturalist projects, and are often their only source of available biodiversity data. There are also other popular citizen science platforms developed by Russian researchers. The first one is the Russian birdwatching network RU-BIRDS.RU. The related GBIF dataset (Ukolov et al. 2019) is the third largest dataset for Russia (>370,000 species occurrences). Another Russian citizen science system is wildlifemonitoring.ru, which includes thematic resources for different taxonomic groups of vertebrates. This is the crowd-sourced web-GIS maintained by the Siberian Environmental Center NGO in Novosibirsk. It is noteworthy that iNaturalist activities in Russia are developed more as a social network than as a way to attract volunteers to participate in scientific research. Of 746 citations in the iNaturalist dataset, only 18 articles include co-authors from Russia. iNaturalist data are used for the management of regional red lists (in the Republic of Bashkortostan, Novosibirsk Oblast and others), and as an additional information source for regional inventories. RU-BIRDS data were used in the European Russia Breeding Bird Atlas and the new edition of the European Breeding Bird Atlas. In Russia, citizen science activities significantly contribute to filling gaps in the global biodiversity map. However, Russian iNaturalist observations available through GBIF originate from the USA. It is not ideal, because the iNaturalist GBIF dataset is growing rapidly, and in the future it will represent more than all other datasets for Russia combined. In our opinion, iNaturalist data should be repatriated during the process of publishing through GBIF, as it is implemented for the eBird dataset (Levatich and Ligocki 2020).

Background/Introduction: The purpose of this study is to examine the feasibility of engaging African American (AA) men as Citizen Scientists (CSs) to support the engagement, recruitment, and retention of AA men in a prostate cancer (PCa) study to validate a new biomarker, Prostate Health Index (PHI) in AA men. AA men are traditionally under-represented in PCa research. Additionally, PCa screening studies that have sought to validate innovative ways of improving the screening of PCa often exclude or do not intentionally focus on the engagement of AA men. Using a Community Engaged Participatory Research (CBPR) model, this study purposes to engage the social networks of AA men trained as CSs to engage and recruit a cohort of healthy controls as a low-cost first step in validating PHI as a PCa screening test in AA men. Methods: Building upon the social networks of the multi-PI team from 3 academic medical institutions and 2 community-based organizations, we sought to identify, recruit, and train 8-12 AA men as CSs. A CS training curriculum was developed and adapted from other CS training models to meet the specific needs of AA men engaged in PCa research. A training series of 5 two-hour modules was developed for the CSs; module 5 is a booster. Validated surveys and post-training evaluations were administered to CSs to assess medical mistrust, cancer knowledge, and adverse childhood experiences. Post-training questionnaires were used to assess quality of training and areas for improvement. Sessions were conducted using CBPR principles to allow CSs to inform the recruitment and retention approaches for AA men in the CSs social network. CSs and PIs collaboratively developed a series of recruitment events within their social networks. IRB approval was obtained across the three academic partners involved. Results: Nine AA men from the social networks of the multi-PI team have been identified. The 9 CSs include 3 PCa survivors, 2 faith-based leaders, 1 fraternity order member, 1 civic leader, 1 barber, and 1 community social worker. The CSs have completed 3 of 5 modules. All the 9 CSs have completed CITI IRB training and are key personnel in the research protocol. Attendance at meetings ranged from 75-100%. Medical mistrust was high among AA CSs. All CSs strongly agreed that their contribution to AA health equity was a reason for their participation. To date, one pilot community event has been developed from the social network of the faith-based and civic CSs. Six events have been planned for summer/fall 2018 to reach Year 1 recruitment goals. Conclusion: Early outcomes indicate that it is feasible to engage/train AA men as CSs to conduct PCa disparities research. Attendance and survey data suggest that AA male CSs are willing to support AA-focused PCa disparities research. Pending the assessment of the recruitment feasibility of AA men, this represents a potentially scalable model for engaging AA men in cancer disparities research and for leveraging social networks to support recruitment and retention of AA men in cancer disparities research. Citation Format: Karriem S. Watson, Josef Ben Levi, Tiffany McDowell, Alfreda Beth-Holloway, LeAndre Moore, Ivanhoe Hall, Alexander Kimbrough, Pooja Gogana, Robert A. Winn, Marcus Murray, Adam Murphy. Engaging African American men as citizen scientist to validate a prostate cancer biomarker [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Eleventh AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2018 Nov 2-5; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2020;29(6 Suppl):Abstract nr A036.

Our understanding of the western honeybee (Apis mellifera) predominantly stems from studies conducted within beekeeping environments, leaving the presence and characteristics of honeybees outside managed settings largely unexplored. In this study, we examined the habitats, nesting sites, and survival rates of free-living colonies through personal monitoring of nest sites in Munich (N = 107) and the coordination of Citizen Science monitoring across Germany (N = 423). Within 7 years, we collected 2555 observations on 530 nest sites from 311 participants, including the authors. Overall, we found that 31% of the occupied nest sites were in buildings and 63% in mature trees, with clear preferences for specific tree species. Nesting preferences differed between urban, rural, and forested areas. On average, only 12% of the personally monitored colonies in Munich survived annually, a figure that aligns well with other published studies in Germany but contrasts sharply with the significantly higher survival rates resulting from Citizen Science reports (29%)-a discrepancy likely driven by certain reporting biases. We found that Citizen Science yielded significantly fewer updates per colony, underreported abandoned sites, and that 46% of overwintering reports overlapped with the swarming season and had to be excluded. To gain reliable survival data in Citizen Science projects, consistency and timing of reports need particular attention and regional swarming should be monitored as well. This study enhances our understanding of the ecological dynamics, liminal state, and conservation needs of free-living honeybee cohorts, addresses potential Citizen Science monitoring biases, and suggests standardized data collection protocols for future monitoring projects. The preservation of mature trees with suitable cavities, as well as the provision of additional nesting sites, is key for sustaining free-living honeybee cohorts and should be integrated into conservation strategies, urban planning, and forest management.

The role of social networks: A novel hypothesis to explain the phenomenon of racial disparity in kidney transplantation

Citizen science comes of age

BackgroundViolence against health care workers (HCWs) is a multifaceted issue entwined with broader social, cultural, and economic contexts. While it is a global phenomenon, in crisis settings, HCWs are exposed to exceptionally high rates of violence. We hypothesize that the implementation of a training on de-escalation of violence and of a code of conduct informed through participatory citizen science research would reduce the incidence and severity of episodes of violence in primary healthcare settings of rural Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and large hospitals in Baghdad, Iraq.MethodsIn an initial formative research phase, the study will use a transdisciplinary citizen science approach to inform the re-adaptation of a violence de-escalation training for HCWs and the content of a code of conduct for both HCWs and clients. Qualitative and citizen science methods will explore motivations, causes, and contributing factors that lead to violence against HCWs. Preliminary findings will inform participatory meetings aimed at co-developing local rules of conduct through in-depth discussion and input from various stakeholders, followed by a validation and legitimization process. The effectiveness of the two interventions will be evaluated through a stepped-wedge randomized-cluster trial (SW-RCT) design with 11 arms, measuring the frequency and severity of violence, as well as secondary outcomes such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), job burnout, empathy, or HCWs’ quality of life at various points in time, alongside a cost-effectiveness study comparing the two strategies.DiscussionViolence against HCWs is a global issue, and it can be particularly severe in humanitarian contexts. However, there is limited evidence on effective and affordable approaches to address this problem. Understanding the context of community distrust and motivation for violence against HCWs will be critical for developing effective, tailored, and culturally appropriate responses, including a training on violence de-escalation and a community behavioral change approach to increase public trust in HCWs. This study aims therefore to compare the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of different interventions to reduce violence against HCWs in two post-crisis settings, providing valuable evidence for future efforts to address this issue.Trial registrationClinicalTrial.gov Identifier NCT05419687. Prospectively registered on June 15, 2022.

Simple SummaryCitizen Science is a valuable resource that can substantially contribute to the conservation of biodiversity. However, its use in honey bee research has remained minimal. The Survivors Task Force of the COLOSS association created and promoted an online surveying tool with the aim of identifying potential cases of Western honey bee, Apis mellifera, populations that are surviving infestations with ectoparasitic mites Varroa destructor without control measures by beekeepers. The reports suggest that there could be twice as many naturally surviving colonies worldwide than are currently known. The survey also shows that citizens can be readily engaged through social media, personal networks, and promotional campaigns to gather valuable and previously inaccessible data. These reports of surviving honey bee colonies will now be validated through the new initiative Honey Bee Watch, a global and multi-year Citizen Science project founded to connect citizens, beekeepers, and scientists. This will enable to increase scientific knowledge, mitigate honey bee colony losses, and develop education and conservation campaigns.Citizen Science contributes significantly to the conservation of biodiversity, but its application to honey bee research has remained minimal. Even though certain European honey bee (Apis mellifera) populations are known to naturally survive Varroa destructor infestations, it is unclear how widespread or common such populations are. Such colonies are highly valuable for investigating the mechanisms enabling colony survival, as well as for tracking the conservation status of free-living honey bees. Here, we use targeted Citizen Science to identify potentially new cases of managed or free-living A. mellifera populations that survive V. destructor without mite control strategies. In 2018, a survey containing 20 questions was developed, translated into 13 languages, and promoted at beekeeping conferences and online. After three years, 305 reports were collected from 28 countries: 241 from managed colonies and 64 from free-living colonies. The collected data suggest that there could be twice as many naturally surviving colonies worldwide than are currently known. Further, online and personal promotion seem to be key for successful recruitment of participants. Although the survivor status of these colonies still needs to be confirmed, the volume of reports and responses already illustrate how effectively Citizen Science can contribute to bee research by massively increasing generated data, broadening opportunities for comparative research, and fostering collaboration between scientists, beekeepers, and citizens. The success of this survey spurred the development of a more advanced Citizen Science platform, Honey Bee Watch, that will enable a more accurate reporting, confirmation, and monitoring of surviving colonies, and strengthen the ties between science, stakeholders, and citizens to foster the protection of both free-living and managed honey bees.

Understanding the distribution of rare species is important for conservation prioritisation. Traditionally, museums and other research institutions have served as depositories for specimens and biodiversity information. However, estimating abundance from these sources is challenging due to spatiotemporally biased collection methods. For instance, large‐bodied reptiles that are found near research institutions or in popular, easily accessible sites tend to be overrepresented in collections compared to smaller species found in remote areas. Recently, a substantial number of observations have been amassed through citizen (or community) science initiatives, which are invaluable for monitoring purposes. Given the unstructured nature of this sampling, these datasets are often affected by biases, such as taxonomic, spatial and temporal preferences. Therefore, analysing data from these two sources can lead to different abundance estimates. This study compiled data on Brazilian reptile species from the Global Information Biodiversity Facility (GBIF). It employed a community‐ecology approach to analyse data from research institutions and citizen science initiatives, separately and collectively, to assess taxonomic and spatial species coverage and predict species rarity. Using a 1‐degree hexagonal grid, we analysed the spatial distribution of reptile communities and calculated rarity indices for 754 reptile species. Our findings reveal that 87 species were exclusively recorded in the citizen science subset, while 212 were recorded only by research institutions. The number of observations per species in the citizen science data followed a Gambin distribution, which aligns with the expected pattern of abundance in natural communities, unlike the data from research institutions. This suggests that citizen science data may be a more accurate source for estimating species abundance and rarity. The discrepancies in rarity classifications between the datasets were likely due to differences in sample size and potentially other sampling parameters. Nevertheless, combining data collected by both research institutions and citizen science initiatives can help to fill knowledge gaps in reptile species occurrence, thus enhancing the foundation for conservation efforts on a national scale.

How to best track species as they rapidly alter their distributions in response to climate change has become a key scientific priority. Information on species distributions is derived from biological records, which tend to be primarily sourced from traditional recording schemes, but increasingly also by citizen science initiatives and social media platforms, with biological recording having become more accessible to the general public. To date, however, our understanding of the respective potential of social media and citizen science to complement the information gathered by traditional recording schemes remains limited, particularly when it comes to tracking species on the move with climate change. To address this gap, we investigated how species occurrence observations vary between different sources and to what extent traditional, citizen science, and social media records are complementary, using the Banded Demoiselle (Calopteryx splendens) in Britain as a case study. Banded Demoiselle occurrences were extracted from citizen science initiatives (iRecord and iNaturalist) and social media platforms (Facebook, Flickr, and Twitter), and compared with traditional records primarily sourced from the British Dragonfly Society. Our results showed that species presence maps differ between record types, with 61% of the citizen science, 58% of the traditional, and 49% of the social media observations being unique to that data type. Banded Demoiselle habitat suitability maps differed most according to traditional and social media projections, with traditional and citizen science being the most consistent. We conclude that (i) social media records provide insights into the Banded Demoiselle distribution and habitat preference that are different from, and complementary to, the insights gathered from traditional recording schemes and citizen science initiatives; (ii) predicted habitat suitability maps that ignore information from social media records can substantially underestimate (by over 3500 km2 in the case of the Banded Demoiselle) potential suitable habitat availability.

Insect conservation needs sound information on species distribution trends. Developing this evidence relies—in practice—on long-term engagement of volunteers who observe and record species over large spatial and temporal scales. Many biodiversity monitoring schemes, including those for insects, are highly dependent on conservation-based citizen science programs with a long-term continuity. As these schemes are built entirely on good will, the nature of social relations and networks is pivotal to success. We assess the working mechanism of a monitoring scheme that is citizen-based as a case study. The German Butterfly Monitoring Scheme (hereafter TMD for “Tagfalter-Monitoring Deutschland”) operates, as many other citizen science monitoring schemes, through an overarching national network of regional subnetworks of volunteers and a central scientific coordination. Using a questionnaire survey paired with a visual social network assessment, we investigate how participants interact within these networks and assess their motivations to engage. We characterise the functionality of this social network based on mechanism of coordination and participation, flows of information and knowledge exchange among recorders, regional and central coordinators, academic scientists and institutions. By analyzing the interactions, we show how the social network facilitates and ensures various communication modes and thereby fosters long-term engagement, stability and growth of the scheme. We identify the central role of project coordination and the importance of social relations within citizen-based monitoring programs for engagement and personal satisfaction. Based on our empirical study, we derive a set of recommendations for establishing and maintaining successful volunteer networks in insect citizen-based monitoring programs.

Usability of citizen science observations together with airborne laser scanning data in determining the habitat preferences of forest birds

Faculty development is increasingly acknowledged as an important aspect of health professions education. Its conceptualization has evolved from an individual skills training activity to contemporary notions that draw on an organizational model. This organizational model recognizes relationships and networks as important mediators of knowledge mobilization. Although such conceptual advancements are critical, we lack empirical evidence and robust insights into how social networks function to shape learning in faculty development. The purpose of this study was to understand how informal professional social networks influence faculty development learning in the health professions. This study used a qualitative social network approach to explore how teaching faculty's relationships influenced their learning about teaching. The study was conducted in 2018 in an undergraduate course at a Canadian medical school. Eleven faculty participants were recruited, and 3 methods of data collection were employed: semistructured interviews, participant-drawn sociograms, and demographic questionnaires. The social networks of faculty participants influenced their learning about teaching in the following 4 dimensions: enabling and mobilizing knowledge acquisition, shaping identity formation, expressing vulnerability, and scaffolding learning. Faculty developers should consider faculty's degree of social embeddedness in their professional social networks, as our study suggests this may influence their learning about teaching. The findings align with recent calls to conceptually reorient faculty development in the health professions as a dynamic social enterprise.

Within conservation and ecology, volunteer participation has always been an important component of research. Within the past two decades, this use of volunteers in research has proliferated and evolved into “citizen science.” Technologies are evolving rapidly. Mobile phone technologies and the emergence and uptake of high-speed Web-capable smart phones with GPS and data upload capabilities can allow instant collection and transmission of data. This is frequently used within everyday life particularly on social networking sites. Embedded sensors allow researchers to validate GPS and image data and are now affordable and regularly used by citizens. With the “perfect storm” of technology, data upload, and social networks, citizen science represents a powerful tool. This paper establishes the current state of citizen science within scientific literature, examines underlying themes, explores further possibilities for utilising citizen science within ecology, biodiversity, and biology, and identifies possible directions for further research. The paper highlights (1) lack of trust in the scientific community about the reliability of citizen science data, (2) the move from standardised data collection methods to data mining available datasets, and (3) the blurring of the line between citizen science and citizen sensors and the need to further explore online social networks for data collection.

Most citizen science research inherently separates the observer (citizen science participant) from the observation (e.g. data point), placing artificial boundaries around what matters and how it comes to matter. We apply three elements of the philosophical framework of agential realism to reveal a more complex picture of how data arise within citizen science programmes, and its meaning to both the practice of science and the citizen science participant: ‘intra‐action’ (all entities have agency and are entangled with one another); ‘material becoming’ (what comes to matter); and ‘responsibility’ (accountability for what comes to matter and what is excluded from mattering). We draw on a case study of FrogID—an Australia‐wide citizen science program focused on calling frogs, with over 42,000 participants and over 1 million frog records. We conducted semi‐structured interviews with 30 FrogID users, completing two rounds of thematic and relational coding. Our findings reveal that as a consequence of their recording behaviours, FrogID participants become increasingly entangled with the nocturnal environment, with sound and with their own self. Expanding and reciprocal relationships and experiences shape the nature and frequency of their recordings. Second, meaning influences what comes to matter (i.e. what is recorded and submitted) for FrogID participants. We reveal meaning related to feedback (recognition and thus reciprocity), others (social networks and participation with family and friends) and the self (physical and mental well‐being and identity formation/becoming). These different forms of meaning influenced engagement with app use. Third, participants communicated responsibilities related to their involvement in citizen science, including responsibilities to create knowledge (e.g. longitudinal data collection), to conserve (e.g. actively conserving frog, formally committing areas to conservation) and to educate self and others (e.g. skills and competencies required for environmental action). Synthesis and applications: By recognizing a more comprehensive set of intra‐actions, beyond the observer and the observation, agential realism can reveal when, why and how citizen science observations are made; what observations come to matter and why; and how people can create a more just world. Agential realism can shape how citizen science participation, retention and biodiversity data generation are founded. We propose three opportunities for citizen science programs based on these findings. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

The explosion of citizen science (CS) in data collecting, including hydrology and water resources management, results from information and communication technology development. This approach is still a new topic in Vietnam, while CS development stages are not popular in the previous works. This paper demonstrates how a CS project can be developed, a pilot area at Lien Mac 2 sluice, Noi Bridge, and Dong Bong 1 pumping station on the Nhue River, Vietnam. There are seven main stages to implement a CS project, in which monitosring observation choose is a crucial factor to attract participants and obtain long- recorded observations. Social network and smartphone are a tool to boost CS development and the young generation is interested in this approach. Citizen-based water level monitoring was conducted by images that will be uploaded on social networks. The water levels obtained from the CS on the Nhue River are as good as the conventional approach. The step-by-step CS approach can be applied in other aspects of water resources management such as land use, water quality monitoring to promote the CS development.