Unite research with what citizens do for fun: “recreational monitoring” of marine biodiversity

Abstract

Institutes often lack funds and manpower to perform large-scale biodiversity monitoring. Citizens can be involved, contributing to the collection of data, thus decreasing costs. Underwater research requires specialist skills and SCUBA certification, and it can be difficult to involve volunteers. The aim of this study was to involve large numbers of recreational divers in marine biodiversity monitoring for increasing the environmental education of the public and collecting data on the status of marine biodiversity. Here we show that thousands of recreational divers can be enrolled in a short time. Using specially formulated questionnaires, nonspecialist volunteers reported the presence of 61 marine taxa encountered during recreational dives, performed as regular sport dives. Validation trials were carried out to assess the accuracy and consistency of volunteer-recorded data, and these were compared to reference data collected by an experienced researcher. In the majority of trials (76%) volunteers performed with an accuracy and consistency of 50-80%, comparable to the performance of conservation volunteer divers on precise transects in other projects. The recruitment of recreational divers involved the main diving and tour operators in Italy, a popular scientific magazine, and mass media. During the four-year study, 3825 divers completed 18757 questionnaires, corresponding to 13539 diving hours. The volunteer-sightings-based index showed that in the monitored area the biodiversity status did not change significantly within the project time scale, but there was a significant negative correlation with latitude, suggesting improved quality in the southernmost areas. This trend could be related to the presence of stressors in the northern areas and has been supported by investigations performed by the Italian Ministry of the Environment. The greatest limitation with using volunteers to collect data was the uneven spatial distribution of samples. The benefits were the considerable amounts of data collected over short time periods and at low costs. The successful development of citizen-based monitoring programs requires open-mindedness in the academic community; advantages of citizen involvement in research are not only adding large data sets to the ecological knowledge base but also aiding in the environmental education of the public.

Using a citizen science program to monitor coral reef biodiversity through space and time

“…Each questionnaire contained an initial section providing guidance for limiting anthropogenic impacts on the reef and throughout the vacation period, a second section with photographs to be used in species identification, and a third section for recording data obtained by the volunteers on animal taxa, negative environmental conditions, and recreational divers' behaviour (Online Resource 2). A total of seventy-two animal taxa were included on the survey questionnaire, which enabled assessment of environmental quality based on biodiversity (i.e., a single species by itself was not considered as an environmental quality indicator; Grime 1997;Therriault and Kolasa 2000;Goffredo et al 2010). The detailed species list was likely to increase the number of recreational divers involved, as volunteer interest is known to increase when familiar species are included (Goffredo et al 2010).…”

“…In some cases, citizen science can overcome economic constraints on data collection, by using the skills of non-specialist volunteer researchers, collecting reliable data and, in addition, increasing the environmental awareness and public education (Goffredo et al 2004(Goffredo et al , 2010Schmeller et al 2008;Dickinson et al 2010;Conrad and Hilchey 2011).…”

“…The last two decades have seen a rapid increase in recreational diving activity that prompted researchers to involve recreational divers as volunteers, making use of their interest in marine diversity (Evans et al 2000;Goffredo et al 2004Goffredo et al , 2010Huveneers et al 2009;Biggs and Olden 2011). Many works (e.g., Fish Survey Project, Pattengill-Semmens and Semmens 2003;or Reef Check, Hodgson 1999) use formal methods of data collection, requiring intensive training and asking volunteers to perform surveys on specific sites according to strict protocols may ensure uniform data collection.…”

“…The project ''SCUBA Tourism for the Environment'' (STE) replicated the standardized methodology used in Goffredo et al (2004Goffredo et al ( , 2010Recreational Citizen Science) to collect data on the status of the Red Sea coral reef biodiversity. Our study used a survey protocol based on casual diver observations.…”

“…(1) verify the implementation of the method used in Goffredo et al (2010) in a coral reef habitat, evaluating the quality of the data collected by volunteers; (2) analyse the health status of coral reefs in the Northern Red Sea, with particular attention to Egyptian coastlines, to contribute to local environmental management.…”