The benefits of contributing to the citizen science platform iNaturalist as an identifier.

As the number of observations submitted to the citizen science platform iNaturalist continues to grow, it is increasingly important that these observations can be identified to the finest taxonomic level, maximizing their value for biodiversity research. Here, we explore the benefits of acting as an identifier on iNaturalist.

Incorporating citizen science into IUCN Red List assessments.

Many citizen scientists are highly motivated to help address the current extinction crisis. Their work is making valuable contributions to protecting species by raising awareness, identifying species occurrences, assessing population trends, and informing direct management actions, such as captive breeding. However, clear guidance is lacking about how to use existing citizen science data sets and how to design effective citizen science programs that directly inform extinction risk assessments and resulting conservation actions based on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List criteria. This may be because of a mismatch between what citizen science can deliver to address extinction risk and the reality of what is needed to inform threatened species listing based on IUCN criteria. To overcome this problem, we examined each IUCN Red List criterion (A-E) relative to the five major types of citizen science outputs relevant to IUCN assessments (occurrence data, presence-absence observations, structured surveys, physical samples, and narratives) to recommend which outputs are most suited to use when applying the IUCN extinction risk assessment process. We explored real-world examples of citizen science projects on amphibians and fungi that have delivered valuable data and knowledge for IUCN assessments. We found that although occurrence data are routinely used in the assessment process, simply adding more observations of occurrence from citizen science information may not be as valuable as inclusion of more nuanced data types, such as presence-absence data or information on threats from structured surveys. We then explored the characteristics of citizen science projects that have already delivered valuable data to support assessments. These projects were led by recognized experts who champion and validate citizen science data, thereby giving greater confidence in its accuracy. We urge increased recognition of the value of citizen science data within the assessment process.

Integración de la ciencia ciudadana a las evaluaciones de la Lista Roja de la UICN Resumen Existe mucha motivación entre los ciudadanos científicos para ayudar a enfrentar la actual crisis de extinción. Sus contribuciones son valiosas para la protección de las especies mediante la concientización, la detección de especies, la evaluación de las tendencias poblacionales y la información sobre acciones directas de gestión, como la cría en cautiverio. Sin embargo, faltan directrices claras sobre cómo utilizar los conjuntos de datos de ciencia ciudadana existentes y cómo diseñar programas de ciencia ciudadana eficaces que informen directamente las evaluaciones del riesgo de extinción y las acciones de conservación resultantes basadas en los criterios de la Lista Roja de la Unión Internacional para la Conservación de la Naturaleza (UICN). Esto puede deberse a un desajuste entre lo que la ciencia ciudadana puede aportar para abordar el riesgo de extinción y la realidad de lo que se necesita para fundamentar la inclusión de especies amenazadas en las listas según los criterios de la UICN. Para superar este obstáculo, analizamos cada criterio de la Lista Roja de la UICN (A­E) en relación a los cinco tipos principales de resultados de la ciencia ciudadana relevantes para las evaluaciones de la UICN (datos de presencia, observaciones de presencia­ausencia, encuestas estructuradas, muestras físicas y narraciones) para recomendar cuáles resultados son los más adecuados para la evaluación del riesgo de extinción de la UICN. Exploramos ejemplos reales de proyectos de ciencia ciudadana sobre anfibios y hongos que han aportado datos y conocimientos valiosos para las evaluaciones de la UICN. Descubrimos que, aunque los datos de presencia se utilizan de forma rutinaria en el proceso de evaluación, la adición de más observaciones de presencia a partir de información de ciencia ciudadana puede no ser tan valioso como la inclusión de tipos de datos más matizados, como datos de presencia­ausencia o información sobre amenazas a partir de encuestas estructuradas. Después analizamos las características de los proyectos de ciencia ciudadana que ya han aportado datos valiosos en apoyo de las evaluaciones. Estos proyectos fueron dirigidos por expertos reconocidos que defienden y validan los datos de la ciencia ciudadana, lo que da mayor confianza en su exactitud. Instamos a un mayor reconocimiento del valor de los datos de la ciencia ciudadana en el proceso de evaluación.

Photographs as an essential biodiversity resource: drivers of gaps in the vascular plant photographic record.

The photographic record is increasingly becoming an important biodiversity resource for primary research and conservation monitoring. However, globally, there are important gaps in this record even in relatively well-researched floras. To quantify the gaps in the Australian native vascular plant photographic record, we systematically surveyed 33 sources of well-curated species photographs, assembling a list of species with accessible and verifiable photographs, as well as the species for which this search failed. Of 21 077 Australian native species, 3715 lack a verifiable photograph across our 33 surveyed resources. There are three major geographic hotspots of unphotographed species in Australia, all far from current population centres. Many unphotographed species are small in stature or uncharismatic, and many are also recently described. The large number of recently described species without accessible photographs was surprising. There are longstanding efforts in Australia to organise the plant photographic record, but in the absence of a global consensus to treat photographs as an essential biodiversity resource, this has not become common practice. Many recently described species are small-range endemics and some have special conservation status. Completing the botanical photographic record across the globe will facilitate a virtuous feedback loop of more efficient identification, monitoring and conservation.

Multi-taxon biodiversity responses to the 2019-2020 Australian megafires.

Conditions conducive to fires are becoming increasingly common and widespread under climate change. Recent fire events across the globe have occurred over unprecedented scales, affecting a diverse array of species and habitats. Understanding biodiversity responses to such fires is critical for conservation. Quantifying post-fire recovery is problematic across taxa, from insects to plants to vertebrates, especially at large geographic scales. Novel datasets can address this challenge. We use presence-only citizen science data from iNaturalist, collected before and after the 2019-2020 megafires in burnt and unburnt regions of eastern Australia, to quantify the effect of post-fire diversity responses, up to 18 months post-fire. The geographic, temporal, and taxonomic sampling of this dataset was large, but sampling effort and species discoverability were unevenly spread. We used rarefaction and prediction (iNEXT) with which we controlled sampling completeness among treatments, to estimate diversity indices (Hill numbers: q = 0-2) among nine broad taxon groupings and seven habitats, including 3885 species. We estimated an increase in species diversity up to 18 months after the 2019-2020 Australian megafires in regions which were burnt, compared to before the fires in burnt and unburnt regions. Diversity estimates in dry sclerophyll forest matched and likely drove this overall increase post-fire, while no taxon groupings showed clear increases inconsistent with both control treatments post-fire. Compared to unburnt regions, overall diversity across all taxon groupings and habitats greatly decreased in areas exposed to extreme fire severity. Post-fire life histories are complex and species detectability is an important consideration in all post-fire sampling. We demonstrate how fire characteristics, distinct taxa, and habitat influence biodiversity, as seen in local-scale datasets. Further integration of large-scale datasets with small-scale studies will lead to a more robust understanding of fire recovery.

Rapidly mapping fire effects on biodiversity at a large-scale using citizen science.

The unprecedented scale of the 2019-2020 eastern Australian bushfires exemplifies the challenges that scientists and conservation biologists face monitoring the effects on biodiversity in the aftermath of large-scale environmental disturbances. After a large-scale disturbance, conservation policy and management actions need to be both timely and informed by data. By working with the public, often widely spread out over such disturbed areas, citizen science offers a unique opportunity to collect data on biodiversity responses at the appropriate scale. We detail a citizen science project, hosted through iNaturalist, launched shortly after the 2019-2020 bushfire season in eastern Australia. It rapidly (1) provided accurate data on fire severity, relevant to future recovery; and (2) delivered data on a wide range (mosses to mammals) of biodiversity responses at a scale that matched the geographic extent of these fires.