Donnelly Alison, Crowe Olivia, Regan Eugenie, Begley Sinead, Caffarra Amelia
Department of Geography, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI, 53201, USA,
Int J Biometeorol. 2014 Aug;58(6):1237-49. doi: 10.1007/s00484-013-0717-0. Epub 2013 Aug 23.
Citizen science is proving to be an effective tool in tracking the rapid pace at which our environment is changing over large geographic areas. It is becoming increasingly popular, in places such as North America and some European countries, to engage members of the general public and school pupils in the collection of scientific data to support long-term environmental monitoring. Participants in such schemes are generally volunteers and are referred to as citizen scientists. The Christmas bird count in the US is one of the worlds longest running citizen science projects whereby volunteers have been collecting data on birds on a specific day since 1900. Similar volunteer networks in Ireland have been in existence since the 1960s and were established to monitor the number and diversity of birds throughout the country. More recently, initiatives such as Greenwave (2006) and Nature Watch (2009) invite school children and members of the general public respectively, to record phenology data from a range of common species of plant, insect and bird. In addition, the Irish butterfly and bumblebee monitoring schemes engage volunteers to record data on sightings of these species. The primary purpose of all of these networks is to collect data by which to monitor changes in wildlife development and diversity, and in the case of Greenwave to involve children in hands-on, inquiry-based science. Together these various networks help raise awareness of key environmental issues, such as climate change and loss of biodiversity, while at the same time promote development of scientific skills among the general population. In addition, they provide valuable scientific data by which to track environmental change. Here we examine the role of citizen science in monitoring biodiversity in Ireland and conclude that some of the data collected in these networks can be used to fulfil Ireland's statutory obligations for nature conservation. In addition, a bee thought previously to be extinct has been rediscovered and a range expansion of a different bee has been confirmed. However, it also became apparent that some of the networks play more of an educational than a scientific role. Furthermore, we draw on experience from a range of citizen science projects to make recommendations on how best to establish new citizen science projects in Ireland and strengthen existing ones.
事实证明，公民科学是一种有效的工具，可用于追踪我们的环境在大地理区域内快速变化的速度。在北美和一些欧洲国家等地，让普通公众和在校学生参与科学数据收集以支持长期环境监测变得越来越流行。此类计划的参与者通常是志愿者，被称为公民科学家。美国的圣诞鸟类计数是世界上运行时间最长的公民科学项目之一，自1900年以来，志愿者们一直在特定的一天收集鸟类数据。爱尔兰自20世纪60年代以来就存在类似的志愿者网络，其设立目的是监测全国鸟类的数量和多样性。最近，诸如“绿波”（2006年）和“自然观察”（2009年）等倡议分别邀请在校儿童和普通公众记录一系列常见植物、昆虫和鸟类的物候数据。此外，爱尔兰蝴蝶和大黄蜂监测计划让志愿者记录这些物种的目击数据。所有这些网络的主要目的是收集数据，以监测野生动物发展和多样性的变化，就“绿波”而言，是让孩子们参与实践、基于探究的科学活动。这些不同的网络共同有助于提高人们对气候变化和生物多样性丧失等关键环境问题的认识，同时促进普通民众科学技能的发展。此外，它们提供了用于追踪环境变化的宝贵科学数据。在此，我们研究公民科学在监测爱尔兰生物多样性方面的作用，并得出结论：这些网络收集的一些数据可用于履行爱尔兰在自然保护方面的法定义务。此外，一种先前被认为已灭绝的蜜蜂被重新发现，另一种蜜蜂的分布范围扩大也得到了证实。然而，也很明显，一些网络发挥的更多是教育作用而非科学作用。此外，我们借鉴一系列公民科学项目的经验，就如何在爱尔兰最好地建立新的公民科学项目并加强现有项目提出建议。
