Citizen Science Programs Research Articles

Global mosquito observations dashboard (GMOD): creating a user-friendly web interface fueled by citizen science to monitor invasive and vector mosquitoes

BackgroundMosquitoes and the diseases they transmit pose a significant public health threat worldwide, causing more fatalities than any other animal. To effectively combat this issue, there is a need for increased public awareness and mosquito control. However, traditional surveillance programs are time-consuming, expensive, and lack scalability. Fortunately, the widespread availability of mobile devices with high-resolution cameras presents a unique opportunity for mosquito surveillance. In response to this, the Global Mosquito Observations Dashboard (GMOD) was developed as a free, public platform to improve the detection and monitoring of invasive and vector mosquitoes through citizen science participation worldwide.MethodsGMOD is an interactive web interface that collects and displays mosquito observation and habitat data supplied by four datastreams with data generated by citizen scientists worldwide. By providing information on the locations and times of observations, the platform enables the visualization of mosquito population trends and ranges. It also serves as an educational resource, encouraging collaboration and data sharing. The data acquired and displayed on GMOD is freely available in multiple formats and can be accessed from any device with an internet connection.ResultsSince its launch less than a year ago, GMOD has already proven its value. It has successfully integrated and processed large volumes of real-time data (~ 300,000 observations), offering valuable and actionable insights into mosquito species prevalence, abundance, and potential distributions, as well as engaging citizens in community-based surveillance programs.ConclusionsGMOD is a cloud-based platform that provides open access to mosquito vector data obtained from citizen science programs. Its user-friendly interface and data filters make it valuable for researchers, mosquito control personnel, and other stakeholders. With its expanding data resources and the potential for machine learning integration, GMOD is poised to support public health initiatives aimed at reducing the spread of mosquito-borne diseases in a cost-effective manner, particularly in regions where traditional surveillance methods are limited. GMOD is continually evolving, with ongoing development of powerful artificial intelligence algorithms to identify mosquito species and other features from submitted data. The future of citizen science holds great promise, and GMOD stands as an exciting initiative in this field.

Leveraging the strengths of citizen science and structured surveys to achieve scalable inference on population size

Abstract Population size is a key metric for management and policy decisions, yet wildlife monitoring programmes are often limited by the spatial and temporal scope of surveys. In these cases, citizen science data may provide complementary information at higher resolution and greater extent. We present a case study demonstrating how data from the eBird citizen science programme can be combined with regional monitoring efforts by the US Fish and Wildlife Service to produce high‐resolution estimates of golden eagle abundance. We developed a model that uses aerial survey data from the western United States to calibrate high‐resolution annual estimates of relative abundance from eBird. Using this model, we compared regional population size estimates based on the calibrated eBird information with those based on aerial survey data alone. Population size estimates based on the calibrated eBird information had strong correspondence to estimates from aerial survey data in two out of four regions, and population trajectories based on the two approaches showed high correlations. We demonstrate how the combination of citizen science data and targeted surveys can be used to (a) increase the spatial resolution of population size estimates, (b) extend the spatial extent of inference and (c) predict population size beyond the temporal period of surveys. Findings based on this case study can be used to refine policy metrics used by the US Fish and Wildlife Service and inform permitting regulations (e.g. mortality/harm associated with wind energy development). Policy implications: Our results demonstrate the ability of citizen science data to complement targeted monitoring programmes and improve the efficacy of decision frameworks that require information on population size or trajectory. After validating citizen science data against survey‐based benchmarks, agencies can harness strengths of citizen science data to supplement information needs and increase the resolution and extent of population size predictions.

A Bayesian model for quantifying errors in citizen science data: application to rainfall observations from Nepal

Abstract. High-quality citizen science data can be instrumental in advancing science toward new discoveries and a deeper understanding of under-observed phenomena. However, the error structure of citizen scientist (CS) data must be well-defined. Within a citizen science program, the errors in submitted observations vary, and their occurrence may depend on CS-specific characteristics. This study develops a graphical Bayesian inference model of error types in CS data. The model assumes that (1) each CS observation is subject to a specific error type, each with its own bias and noise, and (2) an observation's error type depends on the static error community of the CS, which in turn relates to characteristics of the CS submitting the observation. Given a set of CS observations and corresponding ground-truth values, the model can be calibrated for a specific application, yielding (i) number of error types and error communities, (ii) bias and noise for each error type, (iii) error distribution of each error community, and (iv) the single error community to which each CS belongs. The model, applied to Nepal CS rainfall observations, identifies five error types and sorts CSs into four static, model-inferred communities. In the case study, 73 % of CSs submitted data with errors in fewer than 5 % of their observations. The remaining CSs submitted data with unit, meniscus, unknown, and outlier errors. A CS's assigned community, coupled with model-inferred error probabilities, can identify observations that require verification and provides an opportunity for targeted re-training of CSs based on mistake tendencies.

Biological knowledge shortfalls impede conservation efforts in poorly studied taxa—A case study of Laboulbeniomycetes

AbstractMost empirical research on biological shortfalls has focused on vertebrate taxa. This is important given many species in poorly studied groups such as invertebrates, plants, and fungi are predicted to possess high conservation risk. Here, we focus on Laboulbeniomycetes: a class of microfungi that are understudied. We examined four shortfalls: Linnean (knowledge gaps in species diversity), Wallacean (knowledge gaps in distributions), Latimerian (knowledge gaps in species persistence), and the newly introduced Scottian (knowledge gaps in species conservation assessments) shortfalls. The Linnean shortfall in Laboulbeniomycetes is hard to predict due to inconsistent species description rates. Analysis of distribution patterns indicates Laboulbeniomycetes are likely to experience an extremely high Wallacean shortfall, with many species having highly disjunct known distributions. Latimerian shortfall analysis shows over half (51%) of Laboulbeniomycetes have not been recorded in >50 years, while the group has a collective Scottian shortfall of 100%, given none of the 2454 described species have received an IUCN threat assessment. We suggest continued study of natural history collections, expanded citizen science programmes, and machine‐learning identification approaches as important tools for reducing knowledge shortfalls in both Laboulbeniomycetes and poorly studied taxa more generally.

Citizen science benefits coral reefs and community members alike

The field of coral gardening and active restoration has expanded rapidly over the past 2 decades in response to the rapid, global decline of coral reefs. Even with this expansion, the long-term success of coral restoration and ecosystem recovery will still depend on social action to mitigate the local and global stressors plaguing reefs. Rescue a Reef (RAR), a citizen science program, was designed to engage community members and catalyze action through hands-on, experiential opportunities as coral gardeners and restoration practitioners alongside trained scientists. While community-based coral restoration programs can be a powerful platform for education and increase project success, few programs utilize citizen science and even fewer measure and evaluate the long-term impacts of these activities. Here, we describe the benefits of citizen science for coral conservation identified through a mixed methods longitudinal evaluation of RAR after 8 years of citizen science programming. A survey was distributed to all program participants and responses were compared to historical pre-post survey responses of citizen scientists as well as to a control group. We found that despite the passing of time, citizen scientists largely retained their knowledge levels on coral reef-related topics and were significantly more knowledgeable on the topics than a control group. Additionally, RAR successfully developed a strong sense of community, coral stewardship, and program support among its participants. Most importantly, citizen science has the potential to act as a vehicle for positive social change with the majority of participants reporting changes in perceptions (70.5%) and behavior (60.1%) because of their participation in RAR. Thus, the untapped potential of citizen science as a tool for coral reef conservation, restoration, and stewardship must be realized. Furthermore, citizen science projects must embed evaluation in their activities to gather information and evidence on the effectiveness of their activities as well as potential areas for improvement.

Inequality persists in a large citizen science programme despite increased participation through ICT innovations

Biological recording is a prominent and widely practised form of citizen science, but few studies explore long-term demographic trends in participation and knowledge production. We studied long-term demographic trends of age and gender of participants reporting to a large online citizen science multi-taxon biodiversity platform (www.artportalen.se). Adoption by user communities and continually developing Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) greatly increased the number of participants reporting data, but profound long-term imbalances in gender contribution across species groups persisted over time. Reporters identifying as male dominated in numbers, spent more days in the field reporting and reported more species on each field day. Moreover, an age imbalance towards older participants amplified over time. As the first long-term study of citizen participation by age and gender, our results show that it is important for citizen science project developers to account for cultural and social developments that might exclude participants, and to engage with underrepresented and younger participants. This could facilitate the breadth of engagement and learning across a larger societal landscape, ensure project longevity and biodiversity data representation (e.g. mitigate gender bias influence on the number of reports of different species groups).

“Become a Gas Leak Detective!” Evaluating a multigenerational citizen science program for connecting distribution pipelines to energy justice

Buried beneath homes and businesses, pipelines convey an invisible threat: flammable natural gas. Methane gas leaks in distribution pipelines contribute to climate change, damage urban tree canopies, endanger public safety, and burden ratepayers financially. Despite this, residents often lack the ability to interpret the signs of an outdoor urban gas leak and understand its relationship to larger-scale infrastructural decisions. In order to counter information asymmetries between urban residents and utility companies, we present a family-friendly, citizen science curriculum developed by an academic research team and a local climate justice organization which guides users to observe vegetation, read street markings, use their senses, and access existing public databases for finding urban gas leaks in their neighborhoods. Using a scholar-activist, ethnographic walking methodology, we demonstrate how the citizen science program intervenes in the regimes of imperceptibility around urban gas leaks, strengthens Mothers Out Front Worcester's capacity to advocate for energy justice, and helps build a politics of deconfinement in service of an equitable transition off natural gas.

Knowledge shortfalls for titi monkey: A poorly known clade of small-bodied South American primates

Titi monkeys (Callicebus, Cheracebus, and Plecturocebus) comprise the most species-rich group of primates in South America. Thirty-six currently recognized species composing this group inhabit a multitude of habitats across most of South America. While field-based and laboratory research has provided insights into the behavior, ecology, and physiology of some titis, multiple knowledge gaps regarding their biodiversity patterns persist. Here, we provide an overview of titi research and identify their biodiversity knowledge shortfalls. Using online databases, we collated the literature of all titi studies published up to December 31, 2021. We compiled 521 publications, with 48 % representing in situ field studies of the monkeys. The majority of field-based publications focused on studies conducted in Brazil and Peru. We found that research efforts have increased in recent decades, as indicated by the increased number of publications on titis. However, given the large number of species and their wide distribution across South America, there is limited information about most of these species and their geographic ranges. By highlighting the focal points where conservation-related data are still required, our findings demonstrate the importance of expanding research efforts and investment on the full extent of titi species and their entire geographic regions; doing so will help fill the knowledge shortfalls rather than solely advancing the study of a restricted range of topics in one or two habitats or countries. These advances will contribute to fill knowledge gaps through the creation/expansion of data repositories, citizen science programs, and increased financial support to maintain long-term data collection.

A citizen science program to evaluate soil biological quality in urban areas

A citizen science program to evaluate soil biological quality in urban areas

Sharing communication insights of the citizen science program Plastic Pirates—best practices from 7 years of engaging schoolchildren and teachers in plastic pollution research

Engaging the general public in research processes through citizen science allows for innovative scientific studies and makes science accessible to the general public. Effective communication strategies are crucial for the success of such initiatives. The citizen science program Plastic Pirates investigated the plastic pollution of rivers and implemented a variety of communication strategies with participating schoolchildren, teachers, and youth groups (e.g., sport associations, scouts or educational vacation programs, representing approximately 6% of participating groups). These were continuously revised and adapted since its start in 2016. Without time-efficient communication and strategies to keep track of conversations, it would not have been possible to achieve the scientific and educational goals of the program, i.e., to help teachers increase the environmental awareness and scientific literacy of their schoolchildren, and to produce peer-reviewed articles based on the collected citizen science data. Communication within the Plastic Pirates program was divided into four distinct phases: 1) recruiting and motivating participants, 2) coordination and guidance of participants, 3) data reception and revision, and 4) sharing updates and results. Some of the obstacles that had to be overcome to achieve successful communication were e.g., time constraints to obtaining scientific data from the participants, the time lag between the active involvement of the participants and the actual data analysis and publication of results, and limited personnel resources available for communication efforts. Our recommendations for other citizen science practitioners include regular and transparent communication with the participants regarding their contribution, the use of adequate and various communication channels, shifting the workload from the participants to the coordinating team of a citizen science initiative, as well as offering feedback on the research findings to the citizen scientists, thereby disseminating the results of the program.

Motivations and Barriers to Participation in Citizen Science: The Case Study of the Hong Kong Jellyfish Project

Citizen science projects are designed to encourage involvement of the public with science. Understanding demographics of participants and factors that motivate or create barriers to participation are central in ensuring citizen science is effective. Citizen science is not new to Asia, but its implementation is underrepresented in the published literature of that geographic area, with the current focus largely on Western countries. Here, we consider the experience of citizen scientists participating in the Hong Kong Jellyfish Project. Survey responses (N = 87) indicate demographics similar to other citizen science programs, with participant gender reflective of the general population, and participants typically in full-time employment and highly educated. The main motivating factors for participation were: the project had meaningful goals, and participants wanted to contribute to science and to learn more about jellyfish. The main barriers to participation were: not being aware that absence of jellyfish was a valid observation, lack of knowledge, and lack of time. Notably, survey responses indicate inclusive bilingual communication made the project more appealing to respondents, improved participation, and increased motivation. Interestingly, these results indicate demographic traits, motivating factors, and barriers to participation of citizen scientists in Hong Kong are similar to elsewhere, and further research should be conducted to see if the same patterns persist across other cultural contexts. Where recognized, these motivational factors and barriers can inform the design of citizen science projects to more effectively attract and engage participants.

Crowdsourcing to support training for public health: A scoping review.

Crowdsourcing is an interactive process that has a group of individuals attempt to solve all or part of a problem and then share solutions with the public. Crowdsourcing is increasingly used to enhance training through developing learning materials and promoting mentorship. This scoping review aims to assess the literature on crowdsourcing for training in public health. We searched five medical and public health research databases using terms related to crowdsourcing and training. For this review, the concept of crowdsourcing included open calls, designathons, and other activities. We used a PRISMA checklist for scoping reviews. Each full-text was assessed by two independent reviewers. We identified 4,071 citations, and 74 studies were included in the scoping review. This included one study in a low-income country, 15 studies in middle-income countries, 35 studies in high-income countries, and 11 studies conducted in multiple countries of varying income levels (the country income level for 12 studies could not be ascertained). Nine studies used open calls, 35 used a hackathon, designathon or other "a-thon" event, and 30 used other crowdsourcing methods, such as citizen science programs and online creation platforms. In terms of crowdsourcing purpose, studies used crowdsourcing to educate participants (20 studies), develop learning materials (17 studies), enhance mentorship (13 studies) and identify trainees (9 studies). Fifteen studies used crowdsourcing for more than one training purpose. Thirty-four studies were done in-person, 31 were conducted virtually and nine used both meeting options for their crowdsourcing events. Seventeen studies generated open access materials. Our review found that crowdsourcing has been increasingly used to support public health training. This participatory approach can be a useful tool for training in a variety of settings and populations. Future research should investigate the impact of crowdsourcing on training outcomes.

Climbers for Bat Conservation: creating a citizen science program in Red River Gorge Kentucky

In recent years, North American bat populations have been presented with new conservation threats including white-nose syndrome. As these threats continue to impact bats it is important to locate and study these populations. Though most bats tend to roost and hibernate in caves, still many roost in cracks, crevices, and other hard to reach places. Rock climbers recreate on a large array of rock features that are inaccessible or unknown to bat biologists and could serve as a valuable resource in identifying the location of bat species for conservation efforts. Yet, developing and maintaining a productive relationship between recreationists and the conservation community can be challenging, making environmental communication vital to successful collaborative efforts. We explored rock climbers' willingness to participate in a citizen science program for reporting bat sightings through Climbers for Bat Conservation (CBC) while at Red River Gorge (RRG), Kentucky. We utilized a mixed methods case study consisting of a world café facilitated dialog with members of a local climbing organization, bat biologists, land managers, and landowners (n = 18) as well as semi-structured interview data (n = 12) collected at a local climbing festival. Results indicate mutual importance given to bats, climbing, and conservation from world café attendees. Additionally, attendees identified three key parts of a bat observation that would be critical data for rock climbers to report which included presence of a bat, the location, and the climbing route name. Finally, attendees identified having a local climbing ranger or climbing liaison as important to organizing other climbers to submit data. Interview data revealed that the most mentioned barriers to submitting a bat report were awareness of CBC, time, convenience, forgetfulness, fear of route closures, and access to a phone. A discussion follows detailing how this information may be used to further the design and implementation of a citizen science program as well as increase climber engagement at RRG.

New data on the expansion of the Eurasian Thick-knee <i>Burhinus oedicnemus</i> in Sicily. A consideration of citizen science.

In this work, we collected records of Eurasian Thick-knee observations in Sicily by using scientific literature, citizen science programs, and social networks as data sources. The aims of this work is creating a complete and up-to-date dataset, which also includes the authors’ targeted research in the field. As compared with records previously reported in literature, the data collected here, which cover the last fifteen years, show a clear expansion trend for the Eurasian Thick-knee in Sicily. About one third of these new records come from Facebook groups dedicated to biodiversity, thus underlining the usefulness of unconventional sources to gather data on species with poorly known distributions. [Article in Italian]

Participant retention in a continental-scale citizen science project increases with the diversity of species detected

AbstractSustaining the efforts of volunteers is a challenge facing citizen science programs. Research on volunteer management shows that a diversity of factors may be correlated with sustained volunteerism. In the present article, we explore retention of participants in a large-scale citizen science project. We focus on Project FeederWatch, a bird-monitoring program. Using data from 17,991 participants, we found that the probability of retention increased with the diversity of species (species richness) reported by a participant, but retention was unrelated to the overall abundance of birds reported. Participants who successfully submitted an observation were more likely to remain in the project the following year (82.0% interannual retention) than people who registered but never submitted an observation (39.7%). Two measures of effort were positively correlated with retention. This work provides a case study for examining how demographic information and scientific data collected by participants can be mined to understand volunteer retention in environmental monitoring projects.

The eel connection: Developing urban adolescents’ sense of place through outdoor interactions with a local organism

In response to growing concern about the increased disconnect between youth and their outdoor environment, this study examines how nature-based citizen science experiences with a local animal (American eels) influence urban adolescents’ (high-school students) sense of place in a US city. The juvenile American eel is a unique animal due to its see-through body, small size, lengthy migratory pathway, high periodic population density, and conservation concern. Interview, written, and observational data were collected through a case study of ten high-school students during a citizen science project that lasted three months. Analyses of these data indicate that students developed greater ­ecological place meaning and place attachment. Students developed greater ecological place meaning by learning more about the ecology of the river and the eels, and developed greater place attachment by developing pride and empathy. Based on these findings, we argue that nature-based citizen science programs can help environmental educators in the US foster more equitable access to nature by providing urban youth with much-needed opportunities to deeply experience local places and develop a closer and more meaningful relationship with their local environment.

Increasing biodiversity knowledge through social media: A case study from tropical Bangladesh.

Citizen science programs are becoming increasingly popular among naturalists but remain heavily biased taxonomically and geographically. However, with the explosive popularity of social media and the near-ubiquitous availability of smartphones, many post wildlife photographs on social media. Here, we illustrate the potential of harvesting these data to enhance our biodiversity understanding using Bangladesh, a tropical biodiverse country, as a case study. We compared biodiversity records extracted from Facebook with those from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), collating geospatial records for 1013 unique species, including 970 species from Facebook and 712 species from GBIF. Although most observation records were biased toward major cities, the Facebook records were more evenly spatially distributed. About 86% of the Threatened species records were from Facebook, whereas the GBIF records were almost entirely Of Least Concern species. To reduce the global biodiversity data shortfall, a key research priority now is the development of mechanisms for extracting and interpreting social media biodiversity data.

Vegetation structure from LiDAR explains the local richness of birds across Denmark.

Classic ecological research into the determinants of biodiversity patterns emphasised the important role of three-dimensional (3D) vegetation heterogeneity. Yet, measuring vegetation structure across large areas has historically been difficult. A growing focus on large-scale research questions has caused local vegetation heterogeneity to be overlooked compared with more readily accessible habitat metrics from, for example, land cover maps. Using newly available 3D vegetation data, we investigated the relative importance of habitat and vegetation heterogeneity for explaining patterns of bird species richness and composition across Denmark (42,394 km2 ). We used standardised, repeated point counts of birds conducted by volunteers across Denmark alongside metrics of habitat availability from land-cover maps and vegetation structure from rasterised LiDAR data (10 m resolution). We used random forest models to relate species richness to environmental features and considered trait-specific responses by grouping species by nesting behaviour, habitat preference and primary lifestyle. Finally, we evaluated the role of habitat and vegetation heterogeneity metrics in explaining local bird assemblage composition. Overall, vegetation structure was equally as important as habitat availability for explaining bird richness patterns. However, we did not find a consistent positive relationship between species richness and habitat or vegetation heterogeneity; instead, functional groups displayed individual responses to habitat features. Meanwhile, habitat availability had the strongest correlation with the patterns of bird assemblage composition. Our results show how LiDAR and land cover data complement one another to provide insights into different facets of biodiversity patterns and demonstrate the potential of combining remote sensing and structured citizen science programmes for biodiversity research. With the growing coverage of LiDAR surveys, we are witnessing a revolution of highly detailed 3D data that will allow us to integrate vegetation heterogeneity into studies at large spatial extents and advance our understanding of species' physical niches.

Scuba Diving As Sustainability Economic Marine Ecotourism

Diving ecotourism is a form of adventure tourism that has high economic value in marine ecosystems, especially coral reef ecosystems, contributing at least 4 billion USD annually in the Southeast Asian region. In particular, diving tourism worth more than 150 million USD has contributed significant income and employment to many islands and coastal communities in Southeast Asian countries. Another research have a plan that blue economy become base of scuba diving eco-tourism as economic concern and use community-based ecotourism (CBET) within the developing market dynamics of the blue economy. Many coastal communities around the world are strongly dependent on the need to find a balance between protecting marine biodiversity and maintaining a sustainable and direct access to ecosystem services. Healthy coastal ecosystems support livelihoods and provide protection from natural hazards, coastal erosion and rising sea levels, particularly in small island developing states. The blue economy discourse has made considerable inroads towards bridging the gap between livelihoods and ocean health. Although different actors involved in marine and ocean governance are using the blue economy term in competing and often conflicting ways, the wider consensus is that economies and human wellbeing rely on healthy eco-systems. Scuba diving tourists can help fund marine conservation initiatives and research. Some dive operators, for example, contribute a percentage of their income to marine conservation groups or engage in citizen science pro-grams that collect data on marine ecosystems. Scuba diving tourism can help safeguard marine habitats and encourage sustainable practices by funding research and conservation activities. Overall, scuba diving tourism provides a one-of-a-kind opportunity to enjoy the beauty and diversity of marine ecosystems while also offering considerable economic benefits and aiding marine conservation.

New Active Asteroid (588045) 2007 FZ18

We present evidence that, on UT 2018 February 15, main-belt asteroid (588045) 2007 FZ18 displayed cometary activity in the form of two tails, one each in the anti-solar and anti-motion directions. Activity was first identified by volunteers of the NASA Partner program Active Asteroids, a Citizen Science program hosted on the Zooniverse platform, in an image acquired with the Dark Energy Camera on the Blanco 4 m telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile. Notably, (588045) 2007 FZ18 is inbound toward perihelion, so telescope observations are timely to detect a possible second activity outburst.