Abstract
The increasing popularity of citizen science in ecological research has created opportunities for data collection from large teams of observers that are widely dispersed. We established a citizen science program to complement the release of a new variant of the rabbit biological control agent, rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV), known colloquially as K5, across Australia. We evaluated the impact of K5 on the national rabbit population and compared citizen science and professionally-collected spotlight count data. Of the citizen science sites (n = 219), 93% indicated a decrease in rabbit abundance following the release of K5. The overall finite monthly growth rate in rabbit abundance was estimated as 0.66 (95%CI, 0.26, 1.03), averaging a monthly reduction of 34% at the citizen science sites one month after the release. No such declines were observed at the professionally monitored sites (n = 22). The citizen science data submissions may have been unconsciously biased or the number of professional sites may have been insufficient to detect a change. Citizen science participation also declined by 56% over the post-release period. Future programs should ensure the use of blinded trials to check for unconscious bias and consider how incentives and/or the good will of the participants can be maintained throughout the program.
Highlights
The increasing popularity of citizen science in ecological research has created opportunities for data collection from large teams of observers that are widely dispersed
K5 was selected for release as it can overcome the protective effects of a benign calicivirus, Rabbit Calicivirus Australia-1 (RCV-A1)[6], which confers partial temporal protection to infection by early Australian variants of RHDV7
RCV-A1 hampered the impact and effectiveness of the first rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV) release in Australia in 1996; with greater rabbit population reductions occurring in hot, dry areas compared to cool, wet areas[9,10]
Summary
The increasing popularity of citizen science in ecological research has created opportunities for data collection from large teams of observers that are widely dispersed. We established a citizen science program to complement the release of a new variant of the rabbit biological control agent, rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV), known colloquially as K5, across Australia. The overall finite monthly growth rate in rabbit abundance was estimated as 0.66 (95%CI, 0.26, 1.03), averaging a monthly reduction of 34% at the citizen science sites one month after the release. No such declines were observed at the professionally monitored sites (n = 22). Lack of commitment by participants may result in gaps in the data These and other issues have been used to suggest that citizen science sourced data should not be considered for serious scientific research[5]. RCV-A1 hampered the impact and effectiveness of the first RHDV release in Australia in 1996; with greater rabbit population reductions occurring in hot, dry areas compared to cool, wet areas[9,10]
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