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Butler G, Ross K, Beaman J, Hoepner C, Baring R, Burke da Silva K. Utilising tourist-generated citizen science data in response to environmental challenges: A systematic literature review. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT 2023; 339:117889. [PMID: 37058928 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.117889] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/03/2022] [Revised: 03/06/2023] [Accepted: 04/05/2023] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
There has been a proliferation of studies that have examined the impacts of public participation in Citizen Science (CS) that respond to environmental challenges and the recovery of ecosystems, endangered species or other important natural assets. However, comparatively few studies have explored how tourists may play a critical role in the generation of CS data and thus it has been posited that many potential opportunities remain unrealised. By systematically analysing studies that have utilised tourist-generated data in response to environmental challenges or issues, this paper seeks to establish an appraisal of what has so far been established in extant literature and to identify future possibilities for the inclusion of tourists in CS. Via our literature search, a total of 45 peer-reviewed studies were identified via the PRISMA search protocol. Our findings reveal numerous positive outcomes were reported that highlight the significant, yet largely untapped, potential of tourist integration in CS, with studies also offering a range of recommendations on how tourists could be included more effectively to expand scientific knowledge. Notwithstanding, several limitations were observed, and it is critical that future CS projects that utilise tourists for data collection purposes are acutely aware of the challenges they may encounter.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gareth Butler
- College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, Flinders University, Sturt Road, Bedford Park, SA5042, Australia; Faculty of Management, University of Johannesburg, Bunting Road, Cottesloe, Gauteng, 2092, South Africa.
| | - Kirstin Ross
- College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, Sturt Road, Bedford Park, SA5042, Australia.
| | - Julian Beaman
- College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, Sturt Road, Bedford Park, SA5042, Australia.
| | - Cassie Hoepner
- College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, Sturt Road, Bedford Park, SA5042, Australia.
| | - Ryan Baring
- College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, Sturt Road, Bedford Park, SA5042, Australia.
| | - Karen Burke da Silva
- College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, Sturt Road, Bedford Park, SA5042, Australia.
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Chowdhury S, Aich U, Rokonuzzaman M, Alam S, Das P, Siddika A, Ahmed S, Labi MM, Marco MD, Fuller RA, Callaghan CT. Increasing biodiversity knowledge through social media: A case study from tropical Bangladesh. Bioscience 2023; 73:453-459. [PMID: 37397834 PMCID: PMC10308356 DOI: 10.1093/biosci/biad042] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2023] [Revised: 04/18/2023] [Accepted: 04/18/2023] [Indexed: 07/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Citizen science programs are becoming increasingly popular among naturalists but remain heavily biased taxonomically and geographically. However, with the explosive popularity of social media and the near-ubiquitous availability of smartphones, many post wildlife photographs on social media. Here, we illustrate the potential of harvesting these data to enhance our biodiversity understanding using Bangladesh, a tropical biodiverse country, as a case study. We compared biodiversity records extracted from Facebook with those from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), collating geospatial records for 1013 unique species, including 970 species from Facebook and 712 species from GBIF. Although most observation records were biased toward major cities, the Facebook records were more evenly spatially distributed. About 86% of the Threatened species records were from Facebook, whereas the GBIF records were almost entirely Of Least Concern species. To reduce the global biodiversity data shortfall, a key research priority now is the development of mechanisms for extracting and interpreting social media biodiversity data.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shawan Chowdhury
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Queensland, in Saint Lucia, Queensland, Australia
- Institute of Biodiversity, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, in Jena, Germany
- Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research—UFZ, Department of Ecosystem Services, in Leipzig, Germany
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research, in Leipzig, Germany
| | - Upama Aich
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, in Clayton, Victoria, Australia
| | - Md Rokonuzzaman
- Department of Zoology, University of Dhaka, in Dhaka, Bangladesh
| | - Shofiul Alam
- Department of Zoology, University of Dhaka, in Dhaka, Bangladesh
| | - Priyanka Das
- Department of Zoology, University of Dhaka, in Dhaka, Bangladesh
| | - Asma Siddika
- Department of Zoology, University of Dhaka, in Dhaka, Bangladesh
| | - Sultan Ahmed
- Department of Zoology, University of Dhaka, in Dhaka, Bangladesh
| | | | - Moreno Di Marco
- Department of Biology and Biotechnologies, Sapienza University of Rome, in Rome, Italy
| | - Richard A Fuller
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Queensland, in Saint Lucia, Queensland, Australia
| | - Corey T Callaghan
- Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States
- Research and Education Center, University of Florida, Davie, Florida, United States
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Marcenò C, Padullés Cubino J, Chytrý M, Genduso E, Salemi D, La Rosa A, Gristina AS, Agrillo E, Bonari G, Giusso del Galdo G, Ilardi V, Landucci F, Guarino R. Facebook groups as citizen science tools for plant species monitoring. J Appl Ecol 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2664.13896] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Corrado Marcenò
- Department of Botany and Zoology Faculty of Science Masaryk University Brno Czech Republic
| | - Josep Padullés Cubino
- Department of Botany and Zoology Faculty of Science Masaryk University Brno Czech Republic
| | - Milan Chytrý
- Department of Botany and Zoology Faculty of Science Masaryk University Brno Czech Republic
| | | | - Dario Salemi
- Department of Biological, Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies University of Palermo Italy
| | | | | | - Emiliano Agrillo
- Operational Center for Environmental Monitoring Institute for Environmental Protection and Research – ISPRA Roma Italy
| | - Gianmaria Bonari
- Faculty of Science and Technology Free University of Bozen‐Bolzano Bolzano Italy
| | | | - Vincenzo Ilardi
- Department of Earth and Sea Science University of Palermo Palermo Italy
| | - Flavia Landucci
- Department of Botany and Zoology Faculty of Science Masaryk University Brno Czech Republic
| | - Riccardo Guarino
- Department of Biological, Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies University of Palermo Italy
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