Quantification of phytoplankton bloom dynamics by citizen scientists in urban and peri-urban environments

Castilla, Eva Pintado; Cunha, Daví Gasparini Fernandes; Lee, Fred; Loiselle, Steven; Ho, Kin Chung; Hall, Charlotte

doi:10.1007/s10661-015-4912-9

Cited by 52 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 73 publications

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“…An example of the use of instruments for obtaining crowdsourced surface water data is given in Sahithi (), who showed that a mobile app and lake monitoring kit can be used to measure the physical properties of water samples. Another application is given in Castilla et al (), who showed that the data from 13 cities (250 water bodies) measured by trained citizens with the aid of instruments can be used to successfully assess elevated phytoplankton densities in urban and peri‐urban freshwater ecosystems.…”

Section: Review Of Crowdsourcing Data Acquisition Methods Usedmentioning

confidence: 99%

Crowdsourcing Methods for Data Collection in Geophysics: State of the Art, Issues, and Future Directions

Zheng

Tao

Maier

et al. 2018

Reviews of Geophysics

110

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Data are essential in all areas of geophysics. They are used to better understand and manage systems, either directly or via models. Given the complexity and spatiotemporal variability of geophysical systems (e.g., precipitation), a lack of sufficient data is a perennial problem, which is exacerbated by various drivers, such as climate change and urbanization. In recent years, crowdsourcing has become increasingly prominent as a means of supplementing data obtained from more traditional sources, particularly due to its relatively low implementation cost and ability to increase the spatial and/or temporal resolution of data significantly. Given the proliferation of different crowdsourcing methods in geophysics and the promise they have shown, it is timely to assess the state of the art in this field, to identify potential issues and map out a way forward. In this paper, crowdsourcing‐based data acquisition methods that have been used in seven domains of geophysics, including weather, precipitation, air pollution, geography, ecology, surface water, and natural hazard management, are discussed based on a review of 162 papers. In addition, a novel framework for categorizing these methods is introduced and applied to the methods used in the seven domains of geophysics considered in this review. This paper also features a review of 93 papers dealing with issues that are common to data acquisition methods in different domains of geophysics, including the management of crowdsourcing projects, data quality, data processing, and data privacy. In each of these areas, the current status is discussed and challenges and future directions are outlined.

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Section: Review Of Crowdsourcing Data Acquisition Methods Usedmentioning

confidence: 99%

Crowdsourcing Methods for Data Collection in Geophysics: State of the Art, Issues, and Future Directions

Zheng

Tao

Maier

et al. 2018

Reviews of Geophysics

110

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…In this last example, the occurrence of one of the amphibian species (the wood frog Lithobates sylvaticus) was positively associated with high levels of nitrogen. High levels of nutrients (and eutrophication) are also known to be a key driver of cyanobacterial presence and blooms in urban ponds (Peretyatko et al 2010, Vincent and Kirkwood 2014, Waajen et al 2014, Castilla et al 2015, Lurling et al 2017. This is a particularly deleterious impact of eutrophication in urban areas, as some cyanobacteria produce toxins which can be harmful to people and their pets.…”

Section: Water Qualitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Review: Toward management of urban ponds for freshwater biodiversity

2019

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Many cities around the world are expanding and this trend in urbanization is expected to sharply increase over coming decades. At the same time, the integration of green and blue spaces is widely promoted in urban development, potentially offering numerous benefits for biodiversity. This is particularly relevant for urban waterbodies, a type of ecosystem present in most cities. However, site managers often lack the knowledge base to promote biodiversity in these waterbodies, which are generally created to provide other ecosystem services. To address this, our review presents guidelines for promoting biodiversity in urban ponds. We found a total of 516 publications indexed in ISI Web of Sciences related to this topic, of which 279 were retained for the purposes of our review. The biodiversity of urban ponds, measured by species richness, appears to be generally lower than in rural ponds; however, urban ponds often support threatened species. Furthermore, if well managed, urban ponds have the potential to support a much greater biodiversity than they currently do. Indeed, this review shows that a range of urban factors can impair or promote pond biodiversity, including many that can easily be controlled by site managers. Local factors include design (surface area, pond depth, banks and margins, shade, shoreline irregularity), water quality (conductivity, nutrients, heavy metals), and hydroperiod and biotic characteristics (stands of vegetation, fish, invasive species). Important regional factors include several indicators of urbanization (roads, buildings, density of population, impervious surfaces, car traffic), and the presence of other wetlands or green spaces in the surrounding landscape. We considered each of these factors and their potential impact on freshwater biodiversity. Taking into account the management measures listed in the publications reviewed, we have proposed a framework for the management of urban ponds, with guidelines to promote biodiversity and other ecosystem services, and to avoid ecosystem disservices or the creation of ecological traps. At the city scale, the biodiversity of a pondscape benefits from a high diversity of pond types, differing in their environmental characteristics and management.

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“…Fluctuation in water level was assessed as the proportion of observations recorded as low or high on a three-point scale (i.e., not average). The presence or absence of algal blooms was averaged across samples within each season and each site as a proxy for algal bloom frequency [35]. [36,37] Independent testing [33,38] Manual database checking protocol [37] Photographs…”

Section: Field Measurementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Citizen observatories have previously been identified as a potentially powerful tool for the monitoring of algal blooms [35,68] with a suite of applications now having being developed to facilitate their record such as CyanoTRACKER (University of Georgia), Bloomin' Algae (Centre for Ecology and Hydrology), and bloomWatch (US EPA). The present study suggests that potential local scale drivers may also be monitored by citizen scientists.…”

Section: Influence Of Urbanisationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Monitoring Biological and Chemical Trends in Temperate Still Waters Using Citizen Science

Thornhill

Chautard

Loiselle

2018

Water

Self Cite

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Abstract:The involvement of volunteers in the monitoring of the environment holds great potential to gather information on a wider temporal and spatial scale than is currently possible. However, the mass involvement of citizens in monitoring freshwater health is a relatively new field and subject to uncertainty. Here, we examine 1192 samples collected across 46 temperate ponds (<2 ha) and 29 temperate lakes (>2 ha) by 120 volunteers trained through the FreshWater Watch citizen science programme to consider if the approach is able to (a) identify well established patterns in water quality and biological indicators (i.e., fish), and (b) provide a potentially useful basis for the identification of pollution sources in urban or peri-urban landscapes. Seasonal patterns observed agreed well with established principles of nutrient dynamics, algal bloom seasonality, and broad biological trends between ponds and lakes. Further, observational data collected by the volunteers suggested plausible links between the presence of residential discharge and water level fluctuation and significant increases in algal bloom observations between peri-urban and urban sites. We suggest that citizen science can have a role to play in complementing regulatory monitoring efforts and that local citizens should be empowered to become stewards of their local freshwater resources.

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Quantification of phytoplankton bloom dynamics by citizen scientists in urban and peri-urban environments

Cited by 52 publications

References 73 publications

Crowdsourcing Methods for Data Collection in Geophysics: State of the Art, Issues, and Future Directions

Crowdsourcing Methods for Data Collection in Geophysics: State of the Art, Issues, and Future Directions

Review: Toward management of urban ponds for freshwater biodiversity

Monitoring Biological and Chemical Trends in Temperate Still Waters Using Citizen Science

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