The Big Seaweed Search: Evaluating a citizen science project for a difficult to identify group of organisms

Brodie, Juliet; Kunzig, Sarah; Agate, Jules; Yesson, Chris; Robinson, Lucy D.

doi:10.1002/aqc.3903

Cited by 8 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…plastic pollution; Rambonnet et al, 2019), habitat protection (e.g. seagrass meadows; Smale et al, 2019) or a focus on certain taxa (such as seaweeds; Brodie et al, 2023).…”

Section: Public Engagement and Citizen Sciencementioning

confidence: 99%

The importance of public engagement for maerl conservation: Insights from Scotland

Hall‐Spencer,

Rasmusson

2024

Aquatic Conservation

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“…plastic pollution; Rambonnet et al, 2019), habitat protection (e.g. seagrass meadows; Smale et al, 2019) or a focus on certain taxa (such as seaweeds; Brodie et al, 2023).…”

Section: Public Engagement and Citizen Sciencementioning

confidence: 99%

The importance of public engagement for maerl conservation: Insights from Scotland

Hall‐Spencer,

Rasmusson

2024

Aquatic Conservation

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“…Seaweed productivity is closely linked to climate variables [6]. However, in relation to the background of global warming, ocean acidification, and other environmental conditions, there has been evidence of a marked yearly decrease in seaweed resources along coasts worldwide [7][8][9]. Biomass indicators are thus crucial references for the sustainable development, utilization, protection, and restoration of seaweed resources.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Satellite Imagery-Estimated Intertidal Seaweed Biomass Using UAV as an Intermediary

Chen,

Wang,

Zhao

et al. 2023

Remote Sensing

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The aim of this study was to use unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) as a supplement to satellite remote sensing to accurately assess benthic seaweed biomass in intertidal zones, in order to improve inversion accuracy results and investigate the spatial distribution patterns of seaweed. By adopting non-multicollinearity vegetation indices (feature sets) from PlanetScope and Sentinel-2, and using benthic seaweed biomass inverted from multispectral UAV imagery as the label set for satellite pixel biomass values, machine learning methods (Gradient boosting decision tree, GBDT) can effectively improve the accuracy of biomass estimation results for Ulva pertusa and Sargassum thunbergii species (Ulva pertusa, RSentinel22 = 0.74, RPlanetScope2 = 0.8; Sargassum thunbergii, RSentinel22 = 0.88, RPlanetScope2 = 0.69). The average biomasses of Ulva pertusa and Sargassum thunbergii in the intertidal zone of Gouqi Island are 456.84 g/m2 and 2606.60 g/m2, respectively, and the total resources are 3.5 × 108 g and 1.4 × 109 g, respectively. In addition, based on the hyperspectral data, it was revealed that a major source of error is the patchy distribution of seaweed.

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Red List for British seaweeds: evaluating the IUCN methodology for non-standard marine organisms

et al. 2023

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The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species is an authoritative tool in biodiversity conservation. Whilst IUCN criteria have been applied successfully to groups such as birds and mammals, a Red List assessment of British seaweeds in 2021 revealed that the categories to which seaweed species were assigned were dependent on how the criteria were applied. Here, this seaweed assessment is used as a case study with which to evaluate the IUCN methodology for use with ‘non-standard’ groups of organisms. A data-driven assessment of red (Rhodophyta), green (Chlorophyta) and brown (Phaeophyceae) seaweeds, which applied three (A, B and D) of the five IUCN criteria (A–E), categorized 13% of 617 British species as threatened. Following peer review, only 7% of species were categorized as threatened (1% Critically Endangered—CR, 3% Endangered—EN, 3% Vulnerable—VU), and 55% as Data Deficient. This reduction in species categorized as threatened suggests that strict application of the IUCN criteria may, at least for the seaweeds, over-estimate threat. As a result of this assessment, recommendations include the need for a more unified monitoring system and a review of the suitability for/application of the IUCN assessment criteria to some types of organisms. For example, in clonal populations, it is not possible to count individuals, and complex life histories cause additional complications. IUCN criteria must be applicable to a wide range of organisms, including seaweeds.

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The Big Seaweed Search: Evaluating a citizen science project for a difficult to identify group of organisms

Abstract: 1. The Big Seaweed Search invites people to survey UK seashores for 14 conspicuous seaweeds. The science investigates: (i) impact of sea temperature rise; (ii) spread of non-native species; and (iii) impact of ocean acidification. Survey

Cited by 8 publications

References 36 publications

The importance of public engagement for maerl conservation: Insights from Scotland

The importance of public engagement for maerl conservation: Insights from Scotland

Satellite Imagery-Estimated Intertidal Seaweed Biomass Using UAV as an Intermediary

Red List for British seaweeds: evaluating the IUCN methodology for non-standard marine organisms

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