[Taxacom] Citizen Science
Mike Sadka
sadkamike at gmail.com
Sat Oct 25 08:31:12 CDT 2014
2014
Ah Stephen!
You throw out such tempting bait...
But I've promised myself I am not rising again!
Cheerio, Mike
On Fri, Oct 24, 2014 at 10:31 PM, Stephen Thorpe <stephen_thorpe at yahoo.co.nz
> wrote:
> It an issue of "reading between the lines" and the loading of neutral
> facts with negative spin. Also, Dr. Ward set the Hymenoptera project up
> only to shoot it down for not having associated protocols that he didn't
> set it up with! I just think that this is a nonsense paper. It concludes
> the blatantly obvious (i.e., that there are some geographical and taxonomic
> biases in "citizen science" data) from an analysis of a very limited
> dataset, and fails to consider how sites like NatureWatch NZ might evolve
> in such a way as to lessen these biases. One way would be more engagement
> from professional scientists, but Darren contributed no observations
> himself, so it all just seems to me to be a bit of a hatchet job.
>
> Stephen
>
> --------------------------------------------
> On Sat, 25/10/14, JF Mate <aphodiinaemate at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Subject: Re: [Taxacom] Citizen Science
> To: "Taxacom" <taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu>
> Received: Saturday, 25 October, 2014, 1:54 AM
>
> Continuing Stephen and
> thread on Darren Ward and Citizen Science. I
> am attaching an excerpt of his abstract:
>
> Darren Ward (excerpt from
> abstract of the article):
>
> “Over the course of 1 year 25 members
> contributed 360 records from 186
> taxa,
> including the discovery of several introduced species new to
> New
> Zealand. There was a strong geographical
> bias to the records, with the
> majority being
> based around the major cities. Aculeates (stinging
> wasps) were signi�cantly over-represented in
> the NatureWatch records.
> Only half (55 %) of
> taxa were identi�ed to species level, with a
> further 28 % at genus level, and 17 %
> identi�ed above genus level
> (family,
> order). Furthermore, the majority (65 %) of taxa were
> recorded only once, and only a few taxa were
> recorded [5 times (top
> records were
> ‘‘Ichneumonidae’’, ‘‘Hymenoptera’’,
> Anthidium manicatum,
> and Apis mellifera). It
> is probable that these same biases also exist
> for many other taxonomic groups in projects
> operated by citizen
> scientists lacking set
> protocols. Caution should be exercised on the
> subsequent use, compilation, and analysis of
> citizen science,
> especially without prior
> examination of records and potential biases.�
>
>
> (Stephen´s
> opinion crudely cut and pasted here) “I interpret this
> to
> have been a deliberate attempt to
> reinforce to the professional
> community the
> (false) idea that such "citizen science" projects
> aren't
> worth bothering with.�
>
>
> Seriously,
> what is the problem with what Mr Ward is saying? If you
> check any of the sites mentioned in Taxacom you
> will discover that
> what he is saying is
> true! This is not a criticism of nature lovers,
> it is a human condition: we love butterflies
> and colourful things and
> dislike small
> creepy-crawlies. Why would you expect different from the
> subset of nature macrophotographers?
>
> Jason
>
>
>
> On 24 October
> 2014 09:17, Alastair Culham <a.culham at reading.ac.uk>
> wrote:
> > For the past year we've been
> running a citizen science project to survey powdery mildew
> species around the UK in a joint project with the Royal
> Horticultural Society -
> http://blogs.reading.ac.uk/crg/powdery-mildew-survey/
> >
> > This has resulted in
> a data set of around 200 samples in the trial year including
> 59 different PM species
> http://blogs.reading.ac.uk/whiteknightsbiodiversity/campus-species-lists/fungi/powdery-mildew-2014/
> .
> We are hoping for over 1000 samples next season.
> >
> > Samples are
> identified using a combination of morphological and
> molecular techniques by a research council funded PhD
> student and the results are emailed back to the sample
> providers as well as posted on our blogs. Engaging the UK
> public in this scheme has allowed a more widespread sampling
> and allows the student doing the work to focus on lab work
> rather than chasing around the UK for samples.
> >
> > The challenge has
> been to keep the survey in people's minds so that we get
> samples sent on a regular basis throughout the long mildew
> season. This is a non-trivial job and requires a lot of
> forward planning.
> >
> >
> Ours is a small CS scheme compared with large scale
> monitoring of the UK flora by the BSBI which has a network
> of local (usually highly expert) regional recorders and a
> further network of taxonomic experts to back them up. The
> common feature of effective CS schemes is that there is an
> ongoing investment in management of them and close
> monitoring of data quality.
> >
> > CS can be highly effective and can be a
> very cost effective way of gathering data if the scheme is
> run well. All science risks a rubbish in, rubbish out
> scenario and CS is just as sensitive to this as any other
> science is.
> >
> >
> Alastair
> >
> ____________________________________________
> >
> > Dr Alastair Culham
> > Centre for Plant Diversity and
> Systematics
> > Harborne Building, School
> of Biological Sciences
> > University of
> Reading, Whiteknights, Reading, RG6 6AS
> >
> U.K.
> >
> > Associate
> Professor of Botany
> > Curator, Reading
> University Herbarium (RNG)
> >
> ____________________________________________
> >
> >
> ________________________________________
> > From: Taxacom [taxacom-bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu]
> on behalf of Stephen Thorpe [stephen_thorpe at yahoo.co.nz]
> > Sent: 23 October 2014 21:35
> > To: KenWalker; John Grehan
> > Cc: Taxacom
> > Subject:
> Re: [Taxacom] De-extinction & Rhachistia aldabrae
> >
> > Ken may be a little
> bit oversensitive, given that he probably has to constantly
> battle the indifference to (and sometimes obstruction of)
> citizen science, by entomologist colleagues. In my view,
> biodiversity recording sites like Project Noah, iSpot,
> iNaturalist, BowerBird, NatureWatch NZ, etc. are not
> actually all that useful *as initially conceived* (photos in
> the field of live organisms), but can evolve into something
> far more useful. I agree that there is not much point in
> thousands of records of monarch butterflies, and no little
> brown micro moths. For some idea of my vision for these
> biodiversity recording sites, I invite you to browse my own
> 2489 contributions to NatureWatch NZ, here:
> http://naturewatch.org.nz/observations/stho002
> >
> > Stephen
> >
> >
> --------------------------------------------
> > On Fri, 24/10/14, John Grehan <calabar.john at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >
> > Subject:
> Re: [Taxacom] De-extinction & Rhachistia aldabrae
> > To: "Walker, Ken" <kwalker at museum.vic.gov.au>
> > Cc: "Taxacom" <taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu>
> > Received: Friday, 24 October, 2014, 2:51
> AM
> >
> > Ken,
> >
> > Admittedly I only
> read postings in a fragmentary way and I
> > know I sometimes
> >
> miss items, but I am confused by your reference to Jason
> > Mate saying the
> >
> the efforts of citizen science can be dismissed as "
> are
> > taking pictures of
> > "bugs": bigger, smaller, red,
> blue or yellow." What I read
> > was
> that he said
> > that "The decline
> in "natural history" amateurs is global
> > and cannot be
> >
> compensated by the explosion of macrophotography since
> they
> > (mostly) are
> > taking pictures of "bugs":
> bigger, smaller, red, blue or
> >
> yellow." This made
> > no reference
> to 'citizen science' and I did not see any
> > implication of
> >
> such. It was only a criticism of a particular mode of
> > information gathering
> > or sharing. I would be grateful
> therefore for how you made
> > that link
> the
> > way you did.
> >
> > John Grehan
> >
> > On Wed, Oct 22,
> 2014 at 9:04 PM, Walker, Ken <kwalker at museum.vic.gov.au>
> > wrote:
> >
> > > Hi Jason,
> >
> >
> > > I totally disagree with
> your assessment of citizen
> > science
> being on the
> > > decline and that
> the efforts of citizen science can be
> >
> dismissed as " are
> > > taking
> pictures of "bugs": bigger, smaller, red, blue
> > or yellow."
> >
> >
> > > Here is Australia, we have
> a citizen science website
> > called
> BowerBird
> > > which is a socially
> interactive website somewhat like
> > the
> northern
> > > hemisphere equivalents
> of Project Noah, iNaturalist and
> >
> iSpot. For me, the
> > > quality of
> a citizen science website is whether or not
> > the data it
> > >
> generates is on-shared with national or international
> > biodiversity
> > >
> databases.
> > >
> > > Let me give you one BowerBird
> example that came in this
> > month. A
> citizen
> > > science person submitted
> an image of a
> > ladybeetle. He had
> tried to
> > > identify it himself but
> could not place the
> > species. In
> Australia, we have
> > > a wonderful
> CSIRO website displaying all known extant
> > Australian ladybeetle
> > > species. The BowerBird image did
> not match any of
> > the images on the
> > > diagnostic website. So, we sent
> the image to the
> > BMNH ladybeetle
> expert
> > > who came back with the
> statement "Back from the
> >
> Dead". The species
> > >
> photographed was presumed to be extinct as it had not
> > been seen or recorded
> > > since 1940. The story of this
> citizen science
> > find was told in one
> of our
> > > national newspapers:
> > >
> http://www.theage.com.au/technology/sci-tech/extinct-ladybird-back-from-the-dead-20141014-115u4j.html
> > > (where you can see an image of the
> beetle).
> > >
> >
> > To me, the essence of science is to observe and ask
> > questions. What
> >
> > better way is there than to have thousands of
> "natural
> > history amateur
> > > eyes" documenting spatial and
> temporal data for the
> > Australian
> (swap
> > > Australia for any other
> country) biota. BowerBird
> > has
> discovered new
> > > species and
> helped to track invasive species. The
> > exotic carder bee
> >
> > (Afranthidium (Immanthidium) repetitum) was first
> > reported in Brisbane in
> > > 2000. By 2007, it had been
> recorded south
> > in Sydney but since
> the Sydney
> > > records no further
> distribution extensions had been
> >
> recorded. Then in
> > > February and
> March 2014, two amateurs noticed a
> >
> "strange bee" in their
> > >
> garden. They photographed their strange bee and
> > posted the images on
> > > BowerBird with the question
> "Bee ID?". We bee
> >
> "experts" immediately
> > >
> recognised it as the South African carder bee and the
> > records came from
> >
> > hundreds of kilometres north of Brisbane and
> hundreds
> > south of Sydney - on
> > > the state of Victoria's
> border. Australia has
> > many exotic
> "sleeper weeds"
> > > but
> they remain in small numbers as they lack their
> > effective pollinator.
> > > The spread of any exotic pollinator
> needs to be
> > monitored and watched for
> a
> > > possible explosion of a
> sleeper weed. It was citizen
> > science
> who alerted us
> > > to this alarming
> spread.
> > >
> >
> > BowerBird "favourites" are often created by
> an "expert"
> > mentoring
> "natural
> > > history amateur
> eyes" . One such case is the
> >
> humble but extraordinary life
> > >
> styled and bizarrely coloured flatworms.
> > Australia has only one flatworm
> > > expert located in north
> Queensland. However, he
> > has
> inspired many
> > > BowerBird members
> from around Australia to roll back
> >
> logs in search of
> > > these
> flatworms. The expert identifies each
> > flatworm image posted to
> > > BowerBird but he adds stories about
> how the scientific
> > name was derived
> and
> > > about the species
> behaviour. There are now almost
> > 50
> BowerBird members on
> > > the
> Flatworm project who have image captured many of
> > Australia's flatworm
> > > species. The expert has told me
> that for many
> > species, the
> BowerBird
> > > images were his first
> live images for many species - he
> >
> usually sees them
> > > as pickled
> individuals. The expert has also
> >
> requested and been able to get
> > >
> these amateurs to collect and send him specimens for
> > DNA analysis. If you
> > > have never seen a flatworm or want
> to read something
> > about them, then
> I
> > > recommend the flatworm
> project:
> > > http://www.bowerbird.org.au/projects/1633/sightings
> > >
> > >
> Finally, the Australian GBIF node is ALA (Atlas of
> > Living Australia).
> > > BowerBird went live in May 2013 and
> there are automatic
> > weekly data
> > > (images. Identifications,
> spatrila/temporal etc)
> > uploads to
> ALA.
> > > Currently, there are almost
> 11,000 BowerBird records on
> > ALA (to
> see the
> > > spread of records from
> around Australia see:
> > >
> http://biocache.ala.org.au/occurrences/search?qÚta_resource_uid:dr893#tab_mapView
> > > ). This represents about a 60%
> identification
> > success rate for
> images that
> > > you describe as
> "pictures of "bugs": bigger, smaller,
> > red, blue or yellow."
> > >
> > > New
> species have been nominated, new distributions have
> > been recorded, new
> > > stories have been told about the
> Australian fauna, new
> > friendships
> have
> > > been made and these new
> "friends" now go out together
> > on their own
> > >
> photographic BioBlitzes and on-share their finds to
> > BowerBird to ALA to
> > > GBIF. I'm happy with this
> deal !!
> > >
> >
> > I am sure these stories here can be repeated for
> > Project Noah, iNaturalist
> > > and iSpot.
> >
> >
> > > For me, citizen science is
> on the up not the
> > decline.
> Getting
> > > "professional"
> scientists to engage with this "new"
> > data source is the next
> > > "challenge".
> > >
> > > Best
> Ken
> > >
> > >
> -----Original Message-----
> > > From:
> Taxacom [mailto:taxacom-bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu]
> > On Behalf Of JF
> >
> > Mate
> > > Sent: Thursday, 23
> October 2014 2:14 AM
> > > To:
> Taxacom
> > > Subject: Re: [Taxacom]
> De-extinction & Rhachistia
> >
> aldabrae
> > >
> >
> > Hi Bob,
> > >
> > > I agree the scale is altogether
> different but even in
> > densely
> populated
> > > areas in Australia
> even basic invertebrate biodiversity
> >
> knowledge is
> > > lacking. The
> decline in "natural history" amateurs is
> > global and cannot be
> > > compensated by the explosion of
> macrophotography since
> > they (mostly)
> are
> > > taking pictures of
> "bugs": bigger, smaller, red, blue
> > or yellow. If you
> >
> > don´t know what you are photographing then it is
> like
> > it doesn´t exist. For
> > > Europe (with some exceptions) the
> decline may not be as
> > damaging. The
> fauna
> > > is well known and there
> are plenty of guides and keys
> > that
> digital
> > > enthusiasts could use.
> The goal here has at least been
> >
> partially achieved.
> > > In
> Australia, other than butterflies and a couple of
> > other popular groups
> > > you are out of luck.
> > >
> > >
> Cristian. Spain is in a similar (albeit not as extreme)
> > situation to
> > >
> Australia. High biodiversity, incomplete knowledge but
> > a declining body of
> > > amateurs (and legislation that
> doesn´t help either).
> > >
> > > Best
> > >
> > > Jason
> >
> >
> > >
> >
> >
> > >
> >
> >
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