An artificial bird nest experiment in urban environments: Lessons from a school‐based citizen science programme

Abstract

Maintaining suitable vegetation within urban environments is crucial for wildlife conservation in the face of anthropogenic habitat change. Here, we report on a citizen science project, involving students from seven schools across south‐eastern Australia, that investigated the effectiveness of urban vegetation as habitat for bird nests. The ‘nest concealment hypothesis’ posits that vegetation should obscure the nest from predator detection, thus reducing the likelihood of predation. To test this, participating school‐aged citizen scientists constructed artificial nests, which were placed in garden trees within school grounds and monitored for signs of predation. We found no evidence to support the nest concealment hypothesis, with no relationship between the density of vegetation immediately surrounding a nest and its likelihood of predation (binomial model: = 1.714, P = 0.190). It was observed that 80% of the nests experienced predation. This aligns with mounting evidence suggesting that other factors, such as olfaction and adult defence, may be more important factors in the protection of bird nests. It is important to note that artificial nests are unreliable, and therefore, the veracity of the overall conclusions is limited. However, in conducting this experiment, we demonstrate the suitability of this method as a school‐based citizen science activity. This study exemplifies that field‐based experiments can used to engage future generations with conservation science.

Potential and pitfalls of citizen science with children: Reflections on Pollinators in the Playground project

“…Although engagement and scientific outcomes can both be achieved, robust data collection requires training and rigour, which is hard to achieve with citizens on limited time and funding (Kremen et al 2011), especially younger children (Castagneyrol et al 2020;Gracanin et al 2020;Soanes et al 2020). Developing observation skills is an important skill-set required to become an adept scientist, and thus, our activities have learning benefits over those that require merely massive collection.…”

“…Bringing these 'extra-curricular' activities into schools through incursions with scientists is a direct way of bridging gaps in science opportunities that students may face, and regular contact with scientists likely increases levels of engagement (Gracanin et al 2020). We recommend creating such school-science partnerships to develop similar insect-focused projects, addressing the shortcomings outlined above, for students to have the opportunity to participate in authentic science experiences.…”

“…The project had a budget of $100/person and had to be completed within a year. Other projects in this corpus conducted previously include Saunders et al 2018;Soanes et al 2020;Gracanin et al 2020. Scientists partnered with five schools: two in peri-urban New South Wales (NSW), and one each in urban areas of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), South Australia (SA) and Western Australia (WA) (Appendix S1). Schools were selected due to their vicinity to a scientist, and willingness to participate.…”

Citizen science in cities: an overview of projects focused on urban Australia

“…With a large and diverse pool of potential participants available in cities, urban ecosystems and urban species have great capacity for the focus of citizen science projects (Adler et al 2020). Urban-centred citizen science projects can provide data from areas not typically accessible to professional scientists such as backyards and school grounds (Saunders et al 2018;Gracanin et al 2020). Furthermore, they have the potential to collect observation rich, continuous data sets -which are rare even in professional settings-thereby providing a detailed window into urban ecology (Callaghan et al 2018(Callaghan et al , 2019.…”

“…Furthermore, they have the potential to collect observation rich, continuous data sets -which are rare even in professional settings-thereby providing a detailed window into urban ecology (Callaghan et al 2018(Callaghan et al , 2019. Urban projects can also help address fascinating scientific questions with a range of projects and methodologies employing citizen scientists to better understand various aspects of ecology in cities (Saunders et al 2018;Callaghan et al 2019;Gracanin et al 2020). Finally, given the socially and culturally diverse nature of cities (Forrest and Dunn 2011), urban based projects have the potential to attract a wide range of participants (cultures, backgrounds, ages and mobilities).…”