You don’t have to be a highly qualified professor to contribute to furthering the scientific understanding of invasives! Citizen science is an exciting and fulfilling way that everyone can get involved in research, making a real difference to the knowledge of invasive species distributions (e.g. Gallo and Waitt, 2011). Currently there are many citizen science programs being implemented throughout the country that you can personally contribute towards such as Conker Tree Science and PlantTracker. All that is necessary is that you report your sightings of invasive species!
Thanks to a range of Smartphone apps available to download for free, participation couldn’t be easier! The apps provide excellent high resolution photos, enabling you to identify and report the sightings of invasives wherever you are. The information received is then saved to an online database which maps the species, location and time of sighting. This data can then be used to assist scientific research.
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| Apps downloaded from Apple App Store |
It is encouraging to learn that approximately 100,000 members of the general public are already getting involved with citizen science across the UK (Feilden, 2013). If you're yet to give it a go, then I highly recommend downloading an app suited to your geographic location today!
Thanks for sharing, Elena - I'll definitely be downloading these apps!
ReplyDeleteWe should give it a go next time we go down to Camely Street!
ReplyDeleteHello Elena
ReplyDeleteThank you for the information. I have downloaded some already for my next adventure.
Hey Nikol,
DeleteI've loved reading your blog so far, you might find the PlantTracker app particularly interesting seeing as you seem to have an interest in that area!
Enjoy!
Hi Elena
ReplyDeleteGood to see I'm not the only one that recognises the blogging potential for invasive species!
Citizen science seems to be doing the rounds, Rachel Harris has also talked about this recently in a bit more detail, which you may be interested in reading http://bdchanges.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/citizen-science.html
Keep up the good work, there sure is a lot of invasive species stuff to cover!
Rob
Hey Rob,
DeleteThanks for sharing the blog, it was an interesting read! I agree that there are some weaknesses of citizen science, in addition to the points made by Rachel, the data may also be heavily biased and there does not seem to be a way to control for this at the moment. Overall I agree that the boom in citizen science is a positive advance, and as long as the data is used with caution it can make a real difference!
Elena