Abstract Detail

Biodiversity Informatics & Herbarium Digitization

Katzer, Amanda [1], Cooper, Kelsey D. [2], Morelli, Toni Lyn [3].

Biodiversity in the National Parks: How Citizen Science Can Help.

Citizen science is an important way to reach non-scientists as well as increase data collection for an institution. We developed a framework to compare citizen science observations shared publicly via the iNaturalist app during the 2016 Nation Park Service (NPS) Centennial Bioblitz. We discovered that verified records, after comparison with existing NPS biodiversity databases, could reveal lists for each park of (1) which species were most commonly observed by the public; (2) taxonomic mismatches that could help NPS in updating their records; and (3) species unknown to the park, including new invasives and potential climate migrants. Over 40,000 entries were recorded in iNaturalist for this Bioblitz event by 1,904 unique users for 105 NPS units across the United States, with 6,758 unique species. These broad public events can assist resource-limited parks and engage the public in better understand the biodiversity held by the NPS.

1 - University of Kansas, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, 1200 Sunnyside Ave., Haworth Hall, Lawrence, Kansas, 66045, United States
2 - Indiana University, O'Neil School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Bloomington, IN, 47408, USA
3 - United States Geological Survey, Northeast Climate Adaptation Science Center, Amherst, MA, 01003, USA

Keywords:
citizen science
National Park Service
iNaturalist
BioBlitz
Biodiversity.

Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: BIHD1, Biodiversity Informatics & Herbarium Digitization I
Location: Virtual/Virtual
Date: Wednesday, July 29th, 2020
Time: 4:00 PM
Number: BIHD1005
Abstract ID:273
Candidate for Awards:None