New records of macrofungi species in Israel

Chapter Eleven - The role of citizen science in biodiversity monitoring: when invasive species and insects meet

Museum visitors and non-visitors in Germany: A representative survey

Recommandations pour la pratique clinique

ISSN 1948-6596 news and update symposium summary Where next for macroecology: citizen macroecology? 2 nd annual symposium of the British Ecological Society’s Macroecology Special Interest Group – Sheffield, UK, 10 th –11 th July 2013 Introduction Following the success of the first meeting of the British Ecological Society’s (BES) Macroecology Special Interest Group in 2012 (see Keith et al. 2012), the second annual meeting of the group took place at the University of Sheffield in July The main themes were the ‘big data’ ap- proach to testing general theory in macroecology, the role of citizen science, and the drafting of a ‘manifesto for macroecology’. There was an overt focus on the current limitations of macroecology, centred on a set of five ‘provocations’ that were put forward early on and returned to repeatedly. These were statements (designed to provoke): (1) that macroecology is now limited by theory, not data availability; (2) that we cannot study natural systems without consideration of human influ- ences; (3) that meaningful predictions of ecosys- tem-level responses to climate change cannot be generated through modelling, because we can never model every interaction; (4) that functional groups, rather than species, are the meaningful units for macroecological analysis; and (5) that macroecology needs a ‘flagship project’. The meeting’s keynote speaker was Ethan White (Utah State University, USA), who focused on one poten- tial flagship: the pursuit of a unifying theory. The other talks were a mix of 5-minute presentations by delegates interspersed with a few longer con- tributions on topics related to collecting and ana- lysing large datasets. The main point emerging from the discus- sions and presentations was that, contrary to the first provocation, macroecology is still strongly limited by data availability, especially data with fine-scale coverage over large spatial extents and, ideally, through time. Citizen science frequently arose as a possible avenue for resolving the data deficit. Indeed, macroecology and citizen science inherently have much in common. Citizen macroecology Citizen science—the contribution to scientific re- search by non-specialists—has the potential to enable fine-grained data collection over large spa- tial extents and through time, beyond what would be feasible by scientists alone, given our limited time and resources (Devictor et al. 2010, Tulloch et al. 2013). We consider much of the ecological and biogeographical research undertaken as 'citizen science' to be macroecology, and argue that macroecology should harness its potential more. Done well, citizen science promotes public interest in, and awareness of, science. In turn, ac- tive public engagement can strengthen the impact of the research (Dickinson et al. 2012). The discus- sions in Sheffield identified a need for greater public engagement with macroecological re- search, suggesting that macroecologists would do well to engage with citizen science sooner rather than later. Below we outline, and then discuss in the wider context, three areas of citizen science rep- resenting a selection of the research presented at the Sheffield meeting: (i) developing citizen sci- ence projects and engaging the public; (ii) the op- portunities and challenges surrounding the use of volunteer-collected data; and (iii) digitising mu- seum collections for macroecology. Developing Citizen Science Projects Heather Sugden (University of Newcastle, UK) de- scribed a very successful ongoing citizen science project. The Big Sea Survey 1 is a project in which volunteers in the North East of England have filled a large data gap for intertidal species’ occurrences along a 150 km stretch of the local coastline. The success of this project stems in part from the flexi- 1 http://www.bigseasurvey.co.uk/, last accessed 21/01/2014 frontiers of biogeography 6.1, 2014 — © 2014 the authors; journal compilation © 2014 The International Biogeography Society

The power of citizen science to contribute to both science and society is gaining increased recognition, particularly in physics and biology. Although there is a long history of public engagement in agriculture and food science, the term 'citizen science' has rarely been applied to these efforts. Similarly, in the emerging field of citizen science, most new citizen science projects do not focus on food or agriculture. Here, we convened thought leaders from a broad range of fields related to citizen science, agriculture, and food science to highlight key opportunities for bridging these overlapping yet disconnected communities/fields and identify ways to leverage their respective strengths. Specifically, we show that (i) citizen science projects are addressing many grand challenges facing our food systems, as outlined by the United States National Institute of Food and Agriculture, as well as broader Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations Development Programme, (ii) there exist emerging opportunities and unique challenges for citizen science in agriculture/food research, and (iii) the greatest opportunities for the development of citizen science projects in agriculture and food science will be gained by using the existing infrastructure and tools of Extension programmes and through the engagement of urban communities. Further, we argue there is no better time to foster greater collaboration between these fields given the trend of shrinking Extension programmes, the increasing need to apply innovative solutions to address rising demands on agricultural systems, and the exponential growth of the field of citizen science.

Types represent the most important specimens in natural history museums as they define a species and should usually be studied within the framework of revisions and new taxon descriptions, hence their documentation is of high importance. Orthoptera is a medium-size order of insects, but its members are important in many food chains as herbivores and as food for other animals. While the documentation of types in Orthoptera is overall very good thanks to the Orthoptera Species File site, there are still many gaps that need to be filled. The Steinhardt Museum of Natural History in Tel Aviv University holds an interesting collection of orthopterans with a focus on local endemics, which have not or only incompletely been documented in the past. Here, we provide a complete annotated catalogue of the 136 type specimens belonging to 29 orthopteran species in the Museum (SMNHTAU, historically TAU), consisting of 21 holotypes and 115 paratypes. The types of Gryllotalpa tali and Myrmecophilus wahrmani, which should be in the collection according to their original descriptions, were not found despite thorough research, and must be considered lost. This catalogue is an important resource for studies on the local fauna as well as for Orthoptera taxonomic research in general.

Citizen science plays a crucial role in advancing the objectives of the European Union's Water Framework Directive (WFD) and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Among the key strengths of citizen science is that it fills information gaps in the management and observation of aquatic ecosystems, especially small rivers that often lack national and sub-national agency monitoring. The present study explores opportunities and challenges of integrating citizen science data with those of Environmental Agencies. The current state of the art is discussed through an analysis of 85 publications dealing with freshwater citizen science, finding that 34 of the ones individuated actually use citizen-science generated data. These 34 studies were analysed in more details focusing on data quality and geographical distribution. Findings highlight that citizen-generated data reach an accuracy between 70% and 90% when compared to laboratory values, but despite this outcome there is often lack of trust in citizen science data and processes. This is reflected in a limited involvement with policymakers and regulatory agencies. The present publication highlights good practices, challenges and opportunities for collaboration with environmental agencies, giving examples of some projects to address the WFD and increase the impact of freshwater citizen science.

Citizen science plays a crucial role in advancing the objectives of the European Union’s Water Framework Directive (WFD) and the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Among the key strengths of citizen science is that it fills information gaps in the management and observation of aquatic ecosystems, especially small rivers that often lack national and sub-national agency monitoring. The present study explores opportunities and challenges of integrating citizen science data with those of Environmental Agencies. The current state of the art is discussed through an analysis of 85 publications dealing with freshwater citizen science, finding that 34 of the ones individuated actually use citizen-science generated data. These 34 studies were analyzed in more details focusing on data quality and geographical distribution. Findings highlight that citizen-generated data reach an accuracy between 70% and 90% when compared to laboratory values, but despite this outcome there is often lack of trust in citizen science data and processes. This is reflected in a limited involvement with policy-makers and regulatory agencies. The present publication highlights good practices, challenges and opportunities for collaboration with environmental agencies, giving examples of some projects to address the WFD and increase the impact of freshwater citizen science.

ORNITHOLOGY AND CITIZEN SCIENCE For many reasons, the study of wild birds has played a pioneering role in the development of modern biology. Although birds were included as examples in the major syntheses before the 20th century (including the theory of natural selection), their special position strengthened along with the broad change of biology from describing patterns towards explaining processes. In the first half of the 20th century, it was recognized that the bird is a well-suited subject for studies into the problems of functional morphology, physiology, behaviour, and orientation of animals (Haffer, 2007). Since then, birds have provided some of the most significant model systems for testing general hypotheses regarding speciation and in the diverse fields of ecology, including population and community ecology, evolutionary and behavioural ecology (Gill, 2007). Another distinct feature of ornithology is that, because of the attractiveness of birds, amateurs have always assisted (and outnumbered) professional ornithologists (Greenwood, 2007). In the modern world, such 'citizen science' (the involvement of volunteers in research) provides two great opportunities. First, it enables to widen both the spatial and the temporal scale of field studies beyond the limited reach of individual researchers and short-term project funding. A respectable part of current ornithology--bird surveys involving broad public participation--thus provides pivotal data for developing conservation science and macroecology, and for detecting long-term changes in wild populations, communities, and the wider environment (Greenwood, 2007; Dickinson et al., 2010; Magurran et al., 2010). Secondly, public participation and direct contact with researchers serve as an educational tool for raising awareness about environmental issues and the scientific method (Brossard et al., 2005; Bonney et al., 2009; Devictor et al., 2010). By that, and by increasing public support, the citizen-science part of ornithology is useful for clever applications of ecological knowledge, particularly in conflict situations of biodiversity conservation. THE ROLE OF PROFESSIONAL SOCIETIES Together with its opportunities, a reliable and self-sustaining citizen-science system presents special challenges. One is that managing the contact with the public requires administering capacity and special skills, such as extensive communication and the development of online data storage systems (Bell et al., 2008). Other challenges are methodological: a prerequisite for the inclusion of a large number of volunteers is a clear and simple protocol of data recording, while the data collected will nevertheless be heterogeneous and probably biased for several reasons. Therefore, proper management and analysis of volunteer-collected data typically require professional statisticians to handle the complex sampling designs, error sources, and data structure (Dickinson et al., 2010). These challenges are best addressed by large non-governmental organizations governed by their (amateur) members but employing professional staff to organize the work; and there are many advantages to having a single national organization at least in the case of ornithology (Greenwood, 2007). As exemplified by the European experience, organized citizen-science approaches can greatly increase study effort and reduce the costs of biodiversity monitoring projects (Schmeller et al., 2009). In Estonia, citizen ornithology started to organize on 1 May 1921, when 15 persons, led by Professors Johannes Piiper and Henrik Koppel (Rector of the University of Tartu), formed the Estonian Ornithological Society (EOS). Despite being re-organized several times, the society soon became the centre of volunteer-assisted ornithological projects in Estonia with distinct peaks of its activity in the 1930s, 1950s, and 1970s (Kumari, 1976; Mand, 1992; Leibak et al., 1994). The two last peaks are largely related to the activity of Professor Eerik Kumari, who organized professional teams, published the first field identification guides in Estonian and, in particular, prepared a so far unsurpassed textbook for amateur researchers (Kumari, 1963). …

The role of citizen science in environmental monitoring has received interest in the research community over the last decade, with citizen scientists playing a key role in engaging with and gathering scientific evidence to support natural resource management. Likewise, the involvement of citizen science in aquatic research is growing. One area of aquatic research where there has been successful application of citizen science is in support of plastic-pollution research. Plastic-pollution research benefits from support by citizen scientists both because of the ubiquity of plastic within our environments, requiring data to be collected from a wide geographical area, and because of the need for systemic behavior change at both individual and societal levels. Recent studies highlight citizen science contributions to plastic-pollution research within marine systems, but our knowledge is limited about how citizen science can support limnetic plastic-pollution research, with no known published systematic reviews. The involvement of citizen science within freshwater monitoring has been widely discussed, but most peer-reviewed literature focuses on commonly targeted water-quality parameters (e.g., nutrients). This is not surprising given that freshwater plastic waste is a newly emerging field of interest; thus, the support of citizen science in this research area is only just beginning. This review is the 1st to explore the status of freshwater citizen science focused on plastic pollution. Based on a synthesis of 12 peer-reviewed publications, we considered the environmental and geographic extent of the research, research scope, methods, involvement of citizen science, and data quality. We also discuss how citizen science can contribute to emerging issues in freshwater science. Through our review we found that the use of citizen science within the field of freshwater plastic-pollution research remains rare, with most projects following the contributory model of citizen participation. Additionally, methods and standardized approaches for citizen recruitment, engagement, and training were limited in the peer-reviewed literature. Greater transparency of methods and approaches used will be key to opening up the potential for citizen science within this evolving research field. This review can be used as a starting point for researchers to develop their own freshwater plastic-waste monitoring programs involving citizen scientists.

This commentary suggests that undertaking citizen science research with young people has the potential to play a significant role in contributing to the IPPC and related UN research and policy processes around climate change. Further, citizen science engagement can educate and empower children and young people in and through research by involving wider communities and groups in data collection, communication, and engagement. A persuasive body of literature suggests that children and youth can be and ought to be included in citizen science projects and that young people ought to and can have a greater say in their environmental and climate lives and futures. There is acknowledgment that certain populations, including young people, have been excluded from participation in citizen science, and strategies need to be developed to be more inclusive. Moreover, through inclusion of youth, there are opportunities for intergeneration collaboration leading to potential solutions. Our commentary is a call for the IPCC to be much more open and creative in its knowledge production work and to engage young people in climate-related citizen science.

Citizen science plays a crucial role in advancing the objectives of the European Union’s Water Framework Directive (WFD) and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Among the key strengths of citizen science is that it fills information gaps in the management and observation of aquatic ecosystems, especially small rivers that often lack national and sub-national agency monitoring. The present study explores opportunities and challenges of integrating citizen science data with those of Environmental Agencies. The current state of the art is discussed through an analysis of 85 publications dealing with freshwater citizen science, finding that 34 of the ones individuated actually use citizen-science generated data. These 34 studies were analysed in more details focusing on data quality and geographical distribution. Findings highlight that citizen-generated data reach an accuracy between 70% and 90% when compared to laboratory values, but despite this outcome there is often lack of trust in citizen science data and processes. This is reflected in a limited involvement with policymakers and regulatory agencies. The present publication highlights good practices, challenges and opportunities for collaboration with environmental agencies, giving examples of some projects to address the WFD and increase the impact of freshwater citizen science.

Citizen science (CS) has emerged as transformative approaches to scientific research, fostering inclusivity and transparency in the production of knowledge. The paradigm shift towards open science aims to make research more accessible, transparent, and responsive to societal challenges. Citizen science, defined as the active involvement of non-professionals in the research process alongside professional scientists, has gained significant traction in recent years. This paper explores the intersection between citizen science and transformative innovation policies (TIPs), proposing a framework to evaluate citizen science projects in terms of their transformative potential. By categorizing projects based on the intensity and proximity of participation, the study aims to provide an analytical tool for assessing the systemic impact of citizen science. Through a mixed-method approach, including interviews with principal investigators and expert consultations, the research seeks to develop a robust evaluation framework that can guide the assessment of citizen science initiatives in healthcare, ultimately advancing their capacity to drive systemic change. The findings aim to contribute to the ongoing dialogue on the role of citizen science in fostering a more inclusive and transparent scientific process.

While there are many definitions of citizen science, the term usually refers to the participation of the general public in the scientific process in collaboration with professional scientists. Citizen scientists have been engaged to promote health equity, especially in the areas of environmental contaminant exposures, physical activity, and healthy eating. Citizen scientists commonly come from communities experiencing health inequities and have collected data using a range of strategies and technologies, such as air sensors, water quality kits, and mobile applications. On the basis of our review, and to advance the field of citizen science to address health equity, we recommend (a) expanding the focus on topics important for health equity, (b) increasing the diversity of people serving as citizen scientists, (c) increasing the integration of citizen scientists in additional research phases, (d) continuing to leverage emerging technologies that enable citizen scientists to collect data relevant for health equity, and (e) strengthening the rigor of methods to evaluate impacts on health equity.

Crowdsourcing conservation: The role of citizen science in securing a future for seagrass