As a fourth-year zoologist and keen wildlife monitor, Cerys Deakin is here to talk all things citizen science, focusing on the recent example of the Big Garden Birdwatch.
Pic Credit: StockSnap via Pixabay
Citizen science is the growing action of non-scientific participation in science through voluntary efforts of the public. Through these initiatives, communities can get involved in scientific investigations via data collection, submission and sharing. These programs are growing in popularity, sparking passion for biodiversity monitoring and conservation in the general public.
Citizen science efforts are created by scientists to aid the progression of large-scale projects and local wildlife monitoring. Often these initiatives allow projects to capture a much greater sample size than would be achieved through academic methods alone, usually through collaboration with local wildlife groups.
There are a variety of programmes involved in citizen science initiatives: firstly, there are monitoring programs which involve biodiversity count and wildlife identification. Volunteers may also elect to maintain, use and develop online databases, which can involve efforts such as animal identification from camera trap footage available online. Examples of this include initiatives on MammalWeb and Zooniverse. Finally, physical community efforts are also examples of contributions to citizen science. These efforts include maintaining habitats or the construction of apparatus to be implemented into the natural environment.
Anyone is allowed to participate in citizen science efforts, no matter their age or level of expertise. Whilst the success of citizen science largely relies on the dedication of volunteers, there is still potential for significant knowledge gaps to arise and natural human errors to occur. Despite such flaws, these efforts remain essential for wildlife monitoring and ensuring that scientists can continue to access large datasets and sample sizes.
The long-tailed tit is a common bird throughout the UK. Pic Credit: Cerys Deakin
An Example: RSPB the big garden birdwatch
Citizen science efforts are common and popular within the global birding community, with many birding groups around the world actively contributing to online databases. These databases are crucial to the monitoring of bird populations and migration patterns.
In the UK, a particular citizen science effort has become extremely popular within communities throughout the nation: the Big Garden Birdwatch is an annual initiative spearheaded by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB). The event is the largest garden monitoring effort in the world, and allows the organisation to examine and understand how garden birds are coping with environmental change over time.
This year, the Big Garden Birdwatch took place during the weekend of the 24th of January. With over 400,000 people signing up to take part, the initiative grows every year, with vital information being collected and submitted to aid the conservation of UK birds. Getting involved is really easy with a streamlined process developed by the charity to ensure that participation is high with limited hiccups during the process.
The Common Moorhen. Pic Credit: Cerys Deakin
Participants sign up online and select a one-hour slot throughout the weekend in which they will sit and monitor their ‘patch’, taking note of the species and number of individuals present. Results can be tallied at the end of the hour and then submitted online. Whilst some unlucky participants might have to state ‘I didn’t spot any birds’ when recording their results, these are still results and the charity has urged for all findings to be submitted.
This initiative first began in 1979, with participation growing in each subsequent year. The results that have been submitted during this time have shown both improvements and losses to UK bird populations, illustrating an ever-growing need for solutions to preserve and protect our birds. Unfortunately, negative news remains the most prominent finding: according to the RSPB’s website, the UK has lost approximately 38 million birds from the skies in just 60 years. Species such as the Song Thrush, for example, have seen an 85% reduction in abundance since the initiative first began.
Despite concerns raised by some citizen science efforts, hope is not lost! The purpose of the Big Garden Birdwatch in particular is to help inform conservationists and ecologists in the UK on the status of bird populations, so they can implement solutions to encourage progress in the future.
The WWF offers an excellent example of how citizen science can enhance the conservation of species. Communities are getting involved in efforts to improve the monitoring, management and ultimately conservation of Snow Leopard populations. Citizens are aiding in the assessment and analysis of camera trap footage from Asia’s High Mountains. This initiative not only provides greater information on Snow Leopards at a faster rate but also allows for better education of local communities on animals that they might otherwise be fearful of or view as pest, increasing the likelihood that implemented conservation actions will be successful.
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