Free full text article on eBird: Sullivan, BL et al. 2014, 'The
eBird enterprise: an integrated approach to development and
application of citizen science', Biological Conservation,
vol. 169, no. 0, pp. 31-40,
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320713003820
Abstract
Citizen-science projects engage volunteers to gather or process data
to address scientific questions. But citizen-science projects vary
in their ability to contribute usefully for science, conservation,
or public policy. eBird has evolved from a basic citizen-science
project into a collective enterprise, taking a novel approach to
citizen science by developing cooperative partnerships among experts
in a wide range of fields: population and distributions,
conservation biologists, quantitative ecologists, statisticians,
computer scientists, GIS and informatics specialists, application
developers, and data administrators. The goal is to increase data
quantity through participant recruitment and engagement, but also to
quantify and control for data quality issues such as observer
variability, imperfect detection of species, and both spatial and
temporal bias in data collection. Advances at the interface among
ecology, statistics, and computer science allow us to create new
species distribution models that provide accurate estimates across
broad spatial and temporal scales with extremely detailed
resolution. eBird data are openly available and used by a broad
spectrum of students, teachers, scientists, NGOs, government
agencies, land managers, and policy makers. Feedback from this broad
data use community helps identify development priorities. As a
result, eBird has become a major source of biodiversity data,
increasing our knowledge of the dynamics of species distributions,
and having a direct impact on the conservation of birds and their
habitats.
Highlights
• eBird is a rapidly evolving citizen-science project that meets
the needs of a broad user community.
• We are developing a novel approach to citizen science based on
interdisciplinary collaboration.
• We have successfully increased data quantity, while maintaining
rigorous data quality.
• eBird is a major source of avian biodiversity data, now being
used across many disciplines.
• Feedback and communication from all aspects of the eBird
enterprise improve the project’s success.
David
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David McDonald
1004 Norton Road
Wamboin NSW 2620
Australia
T: (02) 6238 3706
M: 0416 231 890
F: (02) 9475 4274
E: m("dnmcdonald.id.au","david");">
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