Advancing Amphibian Conservation through Citizen Science in Urban Municipalities

Abstract

As cities adopt mandates to protect, maintain and restore urban biodiversity, the need for urban ecology studies grows. Species-specific information on the effects of urbanization is often a limiting factor in designing and implementing effective biodiversity strategies. In suburban and exurban areas, amphibians play an important social-ecological role between people and their environment and contribute to ecosystem health. Amphibians are vulnerable to threats and imbalances in the aquatic and terrestrial environment due to a biphasic lifestyle, making them excellent indicators of local environmental health. We developed a citizen science program to systematically monitor amphibians in a large city in Alberta, Canada, where 90% of pre-settlement wetlands have been removed and human activities continue to degrade, alter, and/or fragment remaining amphibian habitats. We demonstrate successes and challenges of using publicly collected data in biodiversity monitoring. Through amphibian monitoring, we show how a citizen science program improved ecological knowledge, engaged the public in urban biodiversity monitoring and improved urban design and planning for biodiversity. We outline lessons learned to inform citizen science program design, including the importance of early engagement of decision makers, quality control assessment, assessing tensions in program design for data and public engagement goals, and incorporating conservation messaging into programming.

A framework to identify priority wetland habitats and movement corridors for urban amphibian conservation

“…Lee et al. (2021) outline the benefits of engagement to urban conservation and provide recommendations for citizen science programme design based on lessons learned.…”

“…For example, citizen science programmes have shown that engaged members of the community can be a strong voice for conservation to influence city policy and planners (Bonney et al., 2021). We highlight the value of a citizen science approach, such as spreading of conservation messaging through participants to the broader community and increasing interest in participating in civic planning processes (Lee et al., 2021).…”

“…Project and modelling results were shared with participants via infographics and story boards. Lee et al (2021) outline the benefits of engagement to urban conservation and provide recommendations for citizen science programme design based on lessons learned.…”

Do Citizen Science Methods Identify Regions of High Avian Biodiversity?

“…recording bird diversity during the breeding season through Breeding Bird Surveys, during early winter through Christmas Bird Counts, and year-round through eBird [2,9,10]. Data collected by citizen scientists can also be useful in examining the status and distribution of species of conservation concern [11][12][13]. However, while citizen science projects can yield a wealth of valuable information that can be useful for education, research, and management [1,2,14], the design and implementation of these projects can be challenging (e.g., [15]).…”

“…For example, citizen scientists have taken a leading role in recording bird diversity during the breeding season through Breeding Bird Surveys, during early winter through Christmas Bird Counts, and year-round through eBird [2,9,10]. Data collected by citizen scientists can also be useful in examining the status and distribution of species of conservation concern [11][12][13].…”