Outreach increases detections of an invasive species in a crowdsourced monitoring program

Abstract

Crowdsourcing can be a useful tool for the early detection of invasive species. Invasive wild pigs (Sus scrofa) have been reported in Ontario, Canada. We compared trends in reporting frequency of wild pig sightings to trends in media events that included directions for the public on where to submit their wild pig sightings. We found that media events occurring on the same week, and in up to two weeks before the sighting was reported significantly increased the number of wild pig reports we received. Our findings suggest that media can be used to increase participation by the public. Because of this relationship, our findings also imply that reporting frequency alone cannot accurately index real changes in wild pig numbers—participants were more likely to report sightings after they had been exposed to relevant media, and spikes in the number of reports tracked our outreach efforts. Despite this limitation, reports of wild pig sightings from community members remain a cost-effective tool to detect low-density invasive species across large regions, and participation in the program can be increased with periodic news media and social media blitzes.