Citizen science platforms can effectively support early detection of invasive alien species according to species traits

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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/pan3.10767

Abstract/Summary

•Early detection and rapid response are essential to deal effectively with new introductions of invasive alien species (IAS). Citizen science platforms for opportunistic recording of species are increasingly popular, and there is potential to harvest their data for early detection of IAS, but this has not been tested. •We evaluated the potential of data from existing citizen science platforms for early detection of IAS by obtaining 687 first records of species from 30 European countries where there was both an official first record (i.e. published in scientific literature or by a government agency) and a record in a citizen science platform. We tested how the difference between the two (time lag) was related to species traits, popularity in citizen science platforms, public and research attention and regulatory status. •We found that for 50% of the time lag records, citizen science platforms reported IAS earlier than or in the same year as the official databases. Although we cannot determine causality (the first official record could have been from a citizen science platform, or contemporaneous with it), this demonstrates that citizen science platforms are effective for IAS early detection. •Time lags were largely affected by species traits. Compared with official records, vertebrates were more likely to have earlier records on citizen science platforms, than plants or invertebrates. Greater popularity of the IAS in citizen science platforms and its observation in neighbouring countries resulted in earlier citizen science reporting. In contrast, inclusion in the EU priority list resulted in earlier official recording, reflecting the efficacy of targeted surveillance programmes. However, time lags were not affected by the overall activity of citizen platforms per country. •Synthesis and applications. Multi-species citizen science platforms for reporting nature sightings are a valuable source of information on early detection of IAS even though they are not specifically designed for this purpose. We recommend that IAS surveillance programmes should be better connected with citizen science platforms, including greater acknowledgement of the role of citizen scientists and better data flow from smaller citizen science initiatives into global databases, to support efficient early detection.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	10.1002/pan3.10767
UKCEH and CEH Sections/Science Areas:	Biodiversity (Science Area 2017-)
ISSN:	2575-8314
Additional Information. Not used in RCUK Gateway to Research.:	Open Access paper - full text available via Official URL link.
Additional Keywords:	biosecurity, citizen science, early detection, early warning, non-native species traits, participation, surveillance
NORA Subject Terms:	Ecology and Environment Computer Science Data and Information
Related URLs:	Dataset
Date made live:	11 Dec 2024 12:50 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/538542

Item Type:

Publication - Article

Digital Object Identifier (DOI):

10.1002/pan3.10767

UKCEH and CEH Sections/Science Areas:

Biodiversity (Science Area 2017-)

ISSN:

2575-8314

Additional Information. Not used in RCUK Gateway to Research.:

Open Access paper - full text available via Official URL link.

Additional Keywords:

biosecurity, citizen science, early detection, early warning, non-native species traits, participation, surveillance