Rapidly mapping fire effects on biodiversity at a large-scale using citizen science.
Casey Kirchhoff1, Corey T Callaghan2, David A Keith3
1Centre for Ecosystem Science, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, UNSW Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.
The Science of the Total Environment
|October 12, 2020
Summary
Citizen science projects rapidly collected crucial biodiversity data following the 2019-2020 Australian bushfires. This approach provided timely, large-scale insights for conservation efforts and understanding fire impacts.
Area of Science:
- Ecology
- Conservation Biology
- Environmental Science
Background:
- Large-scale environmental disturbances, such as the 2019-2020 eastern Australian bushfires, pose significant challenges for biodiversity monitoring.
- Effective conservation policy and management require timely, data-driven insights following major environmental events.
Purpose of the Study:
- To demonstrate the utility of citizen science in collecting biodiversity data at the scale of large environmental disturbances.
- To rapidly gather information on fire severity and biodiversity responses post-bushfire.
Main Methods:
- A citizen science project was initiated using the iNaturalist platform shortly after the 2019-2020 bushfire season.
- Public participation was leveraged to collect data across a wide geographic area affected by the fires.
Main Results:
- The project rapidly generated accurate data on fire severity, valuable for recovery planning.
- Biodiversity data, encompassing a broad range of taxa from mosses to mammals, were collected at a scale commensurate with the fires' extent.
Conclusions:
- Citizen science, particularly through platforms like iNaturalist, is a powerful tool for large-scale biodiversity monitoring after environmental disturbances.
- This approach provides essential, timely data for informing conservation and management strategies in post-disaster scenarios.
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