Citizen Science
Our large-scale program on investigating mismatches between plants, insects and birds is unique in the citizen science world. Become part of it and help to better understand a potentially very serious effect of climate change on ecosystem. For more infos on our projects pleas go here.
A good overview over citizen science programs is given at Citizen Science Central of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and at MigrantWatch.
There is a grwoing number of citizen science programs. below we summarize some of the largest programs. Please let us know if we are missing an important program in our list below!
| Who? | What? | Where? |
|---|---|---|
|
various questions on birds |
mostly North America |
|
|
eBird (Lab of O) |
Bird distribution |
globally |
|
Bird phenology |
USA |
|
|
Birds |
UK |
|
|
nabu Stunde der Gartenvögel (the hour of garden birds) |
Birds |
Germany |
|
Insects |
|
|
|
Different agencies summarized here |
Monarch Butterfly |
North-America and Mexico |
|
Plants |
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|
|
Plant phenology |
Germany |
|
|
Plants Scientific writing |
UK |
|
|
Plant phenology |
Austria |
|
|
Plant phenology |
North America |
|
|
Various things |
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Phenology of Plants, Insects, Vertebrates |
North America |
|
|
Plants, Insects, Vertebrates |
globally |
|
|
About anything you might think of |
globally |
|
|
Frogs, Ice, Plants and Worms |
Canada |
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Space |
globally |
|
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Water |
globally |
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Water |
Canada |
|
|
National GeographicBioBlitz |
Biodiversity |
USA |
What is Citizen Science?
Citizen science is the collection of data by citizens that can be used for scientific analysis. The great advantage of citizen science projects is that data can be gathered over a much larger area than a single team of professional scientists could cover.
For detailed background information see the links below:
- A good general description about Citzen Science is here.
- Guide to Citizen Science. Nov. 2012. “A new practical guide on how to develop, implement and evaluate citizen science projects to monitor the UKs environment is published today. The guide is based on conclusions from a comprehensive report reviewing more than 200 citizen science projects from the UK and around the world.”
- Scientific American. General description and list of many different citizen science programs
- University of South Australia. Good overview and some interesting links about Citizen Science projects down under.
Citizen Science in science (a small selection)
- Hurlbert AH, Liang Z (2012). Spatiotemporal Variation in Avian Migration Phenology: Citizen Science Reveals Effects of Climate Change. PLoS ONE 7(2): e31662. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.00316
- Janis L. Dickinson, Benjamin Zuckerberg and David N. Bonter (2010). Citizen Science as an Ecological Research Tool: Challenges and Benefits. Ann. Rev. Ecol Syst. 41.
- Amy Mayer (2010). Phenology and Citizen Science. BioScience (2010)
- Jeff T. Morrisette et al. (2008). Tracking the rhythm of the seasons in the face of global change: phenological research in the 21st century. Review. Frontiers in Ecology
- Elisabeth G. Beaubien and Andreas Hamann (2011).. Plant phenology networks of citizen scientists: recommendations from two decades of experience in Canada. Int J Biometeorol 55
- Publications on plant phenology in Europe and Germany by Prof. Anette Menzel, listed on her homepage.
Citizen Science Networks
| Citizen Science Alliance | “The CSA is a collaboration of scientists, software developers and educators who collectively develop, manage and utilise internet-based citizen science projects in order to further science itself, and the public understanding of both science and of the scientific process. These projects use the time, abilities and energies of a distributed community of citizen scientists who are our collaborators.” |
| European Citizen Science Network | “If you are interested in becoming a member of the emerging European citizen science network then please contact (OPAL@imperial.ac.uk), with your Title, Forname, Surname and email address to obtain permissions to access documents and contribute to new developments.” |