Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 17, 2026
07:40
Monitoring Spatial Segregation in Surface Colonizing Microbial Populations
Published on: October 29, 2016
Anthropogenic accessibility and observer inequality dictate spatial biodiversity patterns in Malaysia
Saman Ghasemian Sorboni1, Sharareh Pourebrahim2,3, Jit Ern Chen4
1Department of Land, Environment, Agriculture and Forestry (TeSAF), University of Padova, Padova, Italy.
Scientific Reports
|June 15, 2026
Summary
Community science data for biodiversity monitoring is biased by human behavior and taxonomy. Addressing these biases is crucial for accurate macroecological inference and effective conservation strategies.
Area of Science:
- Ecology
- Conservation Biology
- Data Science
Background:
- Global biodiversity monitoring increasingly uses open-access community science data.
- Opportunistic data collection introduces complex biases that can distort macroecological inference.
Purpose of the Study:
- To disentangle how human behavior, infrastructure, and taxonomy shape perceived biodiversity patterns in Malaysia.
- To quantify observer inequality and taxonomic disproportionality in community science data.
- To map spatial inventory completeness and identify under-sampled regions and taxa.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of 336,042 research-grade iNaturalist records.
- Estimation of species richness using Chao2.
- Application of Zero-Inflated Negative Binomial Generalized Linear Mixed Models (GLMMs) and effort-corrected Generalized Additive Models (GAMs).
Main Results:
- Extreme observer inequality (Gini = 0.854) with data concentrated in urban centers.
- A three-way interaction showed "Power Users" access remote areas, while casual observers stay near roads.
- Significant taxonomic bias favoring Aves and Reptilia, under-sampling Insecta and Fungi.
- Perceived biodiversity deficits in rugged terrains are artifacts of human inaccessibility, not ecological absences.
Conclusions:
- Community science data biases (observer behavior, taxonomy, accessibility) significantly impact macroecological inference.
- Effort-corrected models reveal that topography and elevation effects are often artifacts of sampling effort.
- Targeted state funding and structured monitoring are essential to complement opportunistic data and address geographic and taxonomic shortfalls for conservation.
Related Concept Videos
02:31Habitat Fragmentation
Habitat fragmentation describes the division of a more extensive, continuous habitat into smaller, discontinuous areas. Human activities such as land conversion, as well as slower geological processes leading to changes in the physical environment, are the two leading causes of habitat fragmentation. The fragmentation process typically follows the same steps: perforation, dissection, fragmentation, shrinkage, and attrition.
01:50Threats to Biodiversity
There have been five major extinction events throughout geological history, resulting in the elimination of biodiversity, followed by a rebound of species that adapted to the new conditions. In the current geological epoch, the Holocene, there is a sixth extinction event in progress. This mass extinction has been attributed to human activities and is thus provisionally called the Anthropocene. In 2019 the human population reached 7.7 billion people and is projected to comprise 10 billion by...
00:54Distribution and Dispersion
Ecology is the study of how organisms interact with their environment and with one another. An important aspect of ecology is understanding where species are found and how individuals are distributed within those areas. The geographic range of a species refers to the total area where its members are located, while dispersion describes the pattern of spacing of individuals within that range.Geographic Range and Dispersion PatternsWithin a species’ geographic range, individuals may be distributed...
01:29Malaria
Malaria pathogenesis in humans reflects a delicate interplay between parasite biology and host response. Clinical illness reflects a host’s immune response to the parasite’s asexual replication cycle, which is often asymptomatic in individuals with partial immunity. From the parasite's perspective, transmission between mosquito and human with minimal host pathology is evolutionarily advantageous. Among the six Plasmodium species infecting humans, P. falciparum and P. vivax dominate in global...
00:53Migration
Migration is long-range, seasonal movement from one region or habitat to another. This common strategy, carried out by many different organisms around the world, is an adaptive response that typically corresponds to changes in an organism’s environment, like resource availability or climate. Migrations can involve huge groups of thousands of animals as well as single individuals traveling alone and can range from thousands of kilometers to just a few hundred meters.
01:19What is Biodiversity?
Biodiversity describes the variety of living things at multiple organizational levels: genetic, species and ecosystem diversity. Species diversity includes all branches of the evolutionary tree from single-celled prokaryotic organisms, bacteria, and archaea, to the eukaryotic kingdoms: plants; animals; fungi; and protists. To date, there have been about 1.75 million species identified, and new species are discovered every week.