The Times Australia
Mirvac Harbourside
The Times World News

.

Citizen scientists collect more nature data than ever, showing us where common and threatened species live

  • Written by Erin Roger, Sector Lead, CSIRO
Citizen scientists collect more nature data than ever, showing us where common and threatened species live

Citizen science isn’t new anymore. For decades, keen amateur naturalists have been gathering data about nature and the environment around them – and sharing it.

But what is new is the rate at which citizen scientists are collecting and sharing useful data. Last year, 10 million observations of species were collected. Our new research[1] shows 9.6 million of those came from citizen scientists. It makes intuitive sense. There are only so many professional researchers. But nearly everyone now has a smartphone.

But if anyone can contribute data, how do you know it’s reliable? Was it really an antechinus, or was it a black rat? Despite the growing success in collecting data, there has long been scepticism over how reliable the data are when used to, say, estimate how abundant a threatened species is.

It turns out, citizen science is extremely useful – especially when paired with professionally collected data.

How did we test it?

It’s now much simpler and quicker to be a citizen scientist than it used to be. You might take a photo of an unusual mammal you spot at a campground, record your observations, and upload it to an app or website. This, in turn, has helped standardise the data and make it even more useful. Around Australia, thousands of people contribute regularly through platforms like iNaturalist, DigiVol, 1 Million Turtles, FrogID and Butterflies Australia.

When you upload your observation, it’s recorded in the database of the individual app. But data from all major citizen science apps is also shared with the Atlas of Living Australia[2], Australia’s largest open-source open-access biodiversity data repository.

That’s important, because it means we can aggregate sightings across every app to get a better sense of what’s happening to a species or ecosystem.

To tackle the question of data reliability, we looked at what proportion of total records added to the data repository came from citizen scientists.

Then we chose three common species – shingleback lizards, Peron’s tree frog, and the red-browed firetail finch – and compared citizen science observations with professionally recorded data across their distribution.

For the shingleback lizard (Tiliqua rugosa), the majority of locations where it was sighted came from professional projects such as government programs and museums, with only 18.5% of locations drawn largely from citizen science.

figure showing shingleback lizard locations from citizen science
These three figures show species observations by citizen science method (green) and non-citizen science (purple). This is for the shingleback lizard. Author provided, CC BY-NC-ND[3]

Peron’s tree-frog (Litoria peronii) had 33.5% of its locations mainly contributed by citizen scientists.

figure showing peron's tree frog locations from citizen science Peron’s tree frog. Author provided, CC BY-NC-ND[4]

But for the red-browed firetail (Neochmia temporalis), citizen science was the main contributor in over 86.5% of its locations.

figure showing fire tailed finch locations from citizen science Red-browed firetail finch. Author provided, CC BY-NC-ND[5]

Why the difference? We believe it’s due to the impact of long-running citizen science projects driven by enthusiasts. Birders are a large enthusiast community, while people who go herping (looking for reptiles) are a smaller group.

As a reflection of community enthusiasm, birds make up nearly 50% of all species observation records in the Atlas of Living Australia, with the Australian magpie the most commonly recorded species.

Read more: From counting birds to speaking out: how citizen science leads us to ask crucial questions[6]

What about rarely recorded species?

Next, we looked at several species with fewer than 1,000 records to find out whether citizen science contributes less data when species are less conspicuous.

In fact, the reverse was often true. For some rare species, citizen science is proving invaluable in ongoing monitoring.

Take the threatened black rockcod (Epinephelus daemelii), a large, territorial fish which been decimated by spearfishing and other pressures.

Here, citizen science proved its worth, adding 63% of observations. Most data came from a few high profile projects, such as annual reef and fish surveys.

figure showing citizen science observations of black rockcod This map shows black rockcod observations by citizen scientists and non-citizen scientists. Author provided, CC BY-NC-ND[7]

Citizen science is coming of age

For decades, citizen science has struggled to feed data into professional monitoring and conservation efforts.

But this is increasingly unfair. By combining citizen science data with professionally collected data, we can get the best of both worlds – a much richer picture of species’ distributions.

It’s only going to get better, as observation and citizen scientist numbers grow each year. There’s a large spectrum of projects, many with excellent data quality controls in place.

Citizen science has come a long way. The data created by keen amateurs is now of better quality, aided by new technologies and support from researchers.

Apps which add automatic time stamps, dates and locations make it much easier to validate observations.

This suggests there’s untapped potential for citizen science to contribute consistent data over significant parts of many species’ ranges, though the strength of this contribution will vary by species.

There’s still more to do to help citizen scientists contribute as usefully as they’d like to. For instance, observations tend to cluster in the regions around cities, because that’s where citizen scientists live. Citizen scientists can also favour larger, charismatic and brightly coloured species.

One method of improving collection could be to focus the interest of citizen scientists on a wider range of species.

For citizen scientists themselves, a big part of the appeal is the ability to create useful data to help the environment. Citizen scientist Jonathon Dashper, for instance, spends his spare time looking for frogs and recording fish. Why? He told us:

My drive to contribute to citizen science is to further my understanding of the natural world and contribute to decision making on environmental matters. Using citizen science platforms, I have been able to learn so much about harder-to-identify organisms.

Read more: Scientists need help to save nature. With a smartphone and these 8 tips, we can get our kids on the case[8]

References

  1. ^ new research (theoryandpractice.citizenscienceassociation.org)
  2. ^ Atlas of Living Australia (www.ala.org.au)
  3. ^ CC BY-NC-ND (creativecommons.org)
  4. ^ CC BY-NC-ND (creativecommons.org)
  5. ^ CC BY-NC-ND (creativecommons.org)
  6. ^ From counting birds to speaking out: how citizen science leads us to ask crucial questions (theconversation.com)
  7. ^ CC BY-NC-ND (creativecommons.org)
  8. ^ Scientists need help to save nature. With a smartphone and these 8 tips, we can get our kids on the case (theconversation.com)

Read more https://theconversation.com/citizen-scientists-collect-more-nature-data-than-ever-showing-us-where-common-and-threatened-species-live-212372

Mirvac Harbourside

Times Magazine

YepAI Joins Victoria's AI Trade Mission to Singapore for Big Data & AI World Asia 2025

YepAI, a Melbourne-based leader in enterprise artificial intelligence solutions, announced today...

Building a Strong Online Presence with Katoomba Web Design

Katoomba web design is more than just creating a website that looks good—it’s about building an onli...

September Sunset Polo

International Polo Tour To Bridge Historic Sport, Life-Changing Philanthropy, and Breath-Taking Beau...

5 Ways Microsoft Fabric Simplifies Your Data Analytics Workflow

In today's data-driven world, businesses are constantly seeking ways to streamline their data anal...

7 Questions to Ask Before You Sign IT Support Companies in Sydney

Choosing an IT partner can feel like buying an insurance policy you hope you never need. The right c...

Choosing the Right Legal Aid Lawyer in Sutherland Shire: Key Considerations

Legal aid services play an essential role in ensuring access to justice for all. For people in t...

The Times Features

Macquarie Bank Democratises Agentic AI, Scaling Customer Innovation with Gemini Enterprise

Macquarie’s Banking and Financial Services group (Macquarie Bank), in collaboration with Google ...

Do kids really need vitamin supplements?

Walk down the health aisle of any supermarket and you’ll see shelves lined with brightly packa...

Why is it so shameful to have missing or damaged teeth?

When your teeth and gums are in good condition, you might not even notice their impact on your...

Australian travellers at risk of ATM fee rip-offs according to new data from Wise

Wise, the global technology company building the smartest way to spend and manage money internat...

Does ‘fasted’ cardio help you lose weight? Here’s the science

Every few years, the concept of fasted exercise training pops up all over social media. Faste...

How Music and Culture Are Shaping Family Road Trips in Australia

School holiday season is here, and Aussies aren’t just hitting the road - they’re following the musi...

The Role of Spinal Physiotherapy in Recovery and Long-Term Wellbeing

Back pain and spinal conditions are among the most common reasons people seek medical support, oft...

Italian Lamb Ragu Recipe: The Best Ragù di Agnello for Pasta

Ciao! It’s Friday night, and the weekend is calling for a little Italian magic. What’s better than t...

It’s OK to use paracetamol in pregnancy. Here’s what the science says about the link with autism

United States President Donald Trump has urged pregnant women[1] to avoid paracetamol except in ...