A dataset of citizen science practitioners' experiences and practices.

There has been renewed interest in Citizen Science (CS) in recent years as it offers an intriguing vision of enabling a scientifically literate population engage in scientific investigations and policy formation. Nonetheless, citizen scientists remain an understudied population, possibly due to the voluntary and part-time nature of their endeavours. Here, a dataset of CS practitioners' experiences collected using an online survey is presented. The survey sample comprises 100 adults (18+) active in diverse CS projects. The survey contains 47 questions designed for quantitative analysis. Questions cluster around several broad themes - participant demographics, project profiles, experience in citizen science, data collection practices, management, dissemination, knowledge of open research principles, and training received. The dataset offers the potential for further empirical research or as a baseline for subsequent surveys, and will interest anybody planning a CS initiative. The questionnaire constitutes a ready-to-deploy instrument for additional country, region, or initiative-level surveys.

Reassessment of French breeding bird population sizes using citizen science and accounting for species detectability.

Higher efficiency in large-scale and long-term biodiversity monitoring can be obtained through the use of Essential Biodiversity Variables, among which species population sizes provide key data for conservation programs. Relevant estimations and assessment of actual population sizes are critical for species conservation, especially in the current context of global biodiversity erosion. However, knowledge on population size varies greatly, depending on species conservation status and ranges. While the most threatened or restricted-range species generally benefit from exhaustive counts and surveys, monitoring common and widespread species population size tends to be neglected or is simply more challenging to achieve. In such a context, citizen science (CS) is a powerful tool for the long-term monitoring of common species through the engagement of various volunteers, permitting data acquisition on the long term and over large spatial scales. Despite this substantially increased sampling effort, detectability issues imply that even common species may remain unnoticed at suitable sites. The use of structured CS schemes, including repeated visits, enables to model the detection process, permitting reliable inferences of population size estimates. Here, we relied on a large French structured CS scheme (EPOC-ODF) comprising 27,156 complete checklists over 3,873 sites collected during the 2021-2023 breeding seasons to estimate the population size of 63 common bird species using hierarchical distance sampling (HDS). These population size estimates were compared to the previous expert-based French breeding bird atlas estimations, which did not account for detectability issues. We found that population size estimates from the former French breeding bird atlas were lower than those estimated using HDS for 65% of species. Such a prevalence of lower estimations is likely due to more conservative estimates inferred from semi-quantitative expert-based assessments used for the previous atlas. We also found that species with long-range songs such as the Common Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus), Eurasian Hoopoe (Upupa epops) or the Eurasian Blackbird (Turdus merula) had, in contrast, higher estimated population sizes in the previous atlas than in our HDS models. Our study highlights the need to rely on sound statistical methodology to ensure reliable ecological inferences with adequate uncertainty estimation and advocates for a higher reliance on structured CS in support of long-term biodiversity monitoring.

Citizen involvement in research on technological innovations for health, care or well-being: a scoping review.

Citizen science can be a powerful approach to foster the successful implementation of technological innovations in health, care or well-being. Involving experience experts as co-researchers or co-designers of technological innovations facilitates mutual learning, community building, and empowerment. By utilizing the expert knowledge of the intended users, innovations have a better chance to get adopted and solve complex health-related problems. As citizen science is still a relatively new practice for health and well-being, little is known about effective methods and guidelines for successful collaboration. This scoping review aims to provide insight in (1) the levels of citizen involvement in current research on technological innovations for health, care or well-being, (2) the used participatory methodologies, and (3) lesson's learned by the researchers.A scoping review was conducted and reported in accordance with the PRISMA-ScR guidelines. The search was performed in SCOPUS in January 2021 and included peer-reviewed journal and conference papers published between 2016 and 2020. The final selection (N = 83) was limited to empirical studies that had a clear focus on technological innovations for health, care or well-being and involved citizens at the level of collaboration or higher. Our results show a growing interest in citizens science as an inclusive research approach. Citizens are predominantly involved in the design phase of innovations and less in the preparation, data-analyses or reporting phase. Eight records had citizens in the lead in one of the research phases.Researcher use different terms to describe their methodological approach including participatory design, co-design, community based participatory research, co-creation, public and patient involvement, partcipatory action research, user-centred design and citizen science. Our selection of cases shows that succesful citizen science projects develop a structural and longitudinal partnership with their collaborators, use a situated and adaptive research approach, and have researchers that are willing to abandon traditional power dynamics and engage in a mutual learning experience.

The Role of Hunters in Wildlife Health Research and Monitoring: Their Contribution as Citizen Scientists in Italy.

In Italy, there are hundreds of research, monitoring, and surveillance activities targeting emerging and re-emerging pathogens. These activities heavily rely on hunters for sample collection and early identification of morbidity/mortality events. The objective of this review is to describe and quantify the contribution of hunters in the context of disease research, monitoring, and surveillance in wild populations. A literature review and descriptive summary statistics were performed following PRISMA-2020 guidelines; articles were obtained from major scientific databases, abstracts from national and international conferences, proceedings, graduate-level theses from online library repositories, and direct contact with academic experts. The contribution of hunters in terms of sample collection for health-related activities on wildlife amounts to 400,000 sampled animals. Wild boars were involved in 158 surveillance systems/research studies, followed by red deer (71), foxes (63), and roe deer (59). The pathogens under surveillance were mainly zoonotic (Salmonella spp.), emerging (Hepatitis E virus), and/or vector-borne (West Nile virus). The temporal distribution of scientific papers followed a positive trend that reflects the growing interest in wildlife from different sectors. These results highlight how wildlife health-related efforts are a paradigm of the concept of One Health, in which the role of hunters is crucial to ensure sample availability, and it constitutes the base of much current wildlife health research, monitoring, and surveillance.

Sustainability in Participatory Health: Applying WHO's Operational Framework.

The World Health Organization's Operational Framework for Climate Resilient and Low Carbon Health Systems outlines 10 broad components for the development and maintenance of health systems that respond effectively to climate-related challenges. This work analyses the WHO framework from a participatory health informatics perspective and identifies specific initiatives involving non-professionals that align with the framework. Citizen and patient participation in the development of climate-resilient health systems is not only possible but also necessary to maximize climate resiliency at the community and global levels.

Smart FOX - Enabling Citizen-Based Donation of EHR-Standardised Data for Clinical Research in Austria.

Access to healthcare data for secondary use in clinical research is often restricted due to privacy concerns or business interests, hindering comprehensive analysis across patient pathways. The Smart FOX project seeks to address this challenge by developing concepts, methods, and tools to facilitate citizen/patient-driven donations of health data for clinical research. Leveraging the groundwork, laid by the national Electronic Health Record implementation in Austria (called ELGA), Smart FOX aims to harness structured datasets from ELGA for research purposes through an opt-in approach. With funding secured from the Austrian Research Promotion Agency, the project embarks on innovative solutions encompassing governance frameworks, community engagement, and technical infrastructure. The Smart FOX consortium, comprising key stakeholders across various healthcare-associated domains, will evaluate these efforts through demonstrators focusing on clinical registries, patient-generated data, and recruitment services. The project targets to accompany the development of future data donation infrastructure while ultimately advancing clinical research efficiency and bolstering Austria's preparedness for the European Health Data Space. This paper presents the first systematic evaluation of the technical concept and proposal for the federated system architecture of the Austrian Health Data Donation Space, which is the socio-technical goal of Smart FOX.

Interspecific competition shapes bird species' distributions along tropical precipitation gradients.

The hypothesis that species' ranges are limited by interspecific competition has motivated decades of debate, but a general answer remains elusive. Here we test this hypothesis for lowland tropical birds by examining species' precipitation niche breadths. We focus on precipitation because it-not temperature-is the dominant climate variable that shapes the biota of the lowland tropics. We used 3.6 million fine-scale citizen science records from eBird to measure species' precipitation niche breadths in 19 different regions across the globe. Consistent with the predictions of the interspecific competition hypothesis, multiple lines of evidence show that species have narrower precipitation niches in regions with more species. This means species inhabit more specialized precipitation niches in species-rich regions. We predict this niche specialization should make tropical species in high diversity regions disproportionately vulnerable to changes in precipitation regimes; preliminary empirical evidence is consistent with this prediction.

Treating gaps and biases in biodiversity data as a missing data problem.

Big biodiversity data sets have great potential for monitoring and research because of their large taxonomic, geographic and temporal scope. Such data sets have become especially important for assessing temporal changes in species' populations and distributions. Gaps in the available data, especially spatial and temporal gaps, often mean that the data are not representative of the target population. This hinders drawing large-scale inferences, such as about species' trends, and may lead to misplaced conservation action. Here, we conceptualise gaps in biodiversity monitoring data as a missing data problem, which provides a unifying framework for the challenges and potential solutions across different types of biodiversity data sets. We characterise the typical types of data gaps as different classes of missing data and then use missing data theory to explore the implications for questions about species' trends and factors affecting occurrences/abundances. By using this framework, we show that bias due to data gaps can arise when the factors affecting sampling and/or data availability overlap with those affecting species. But a data set per se is not biased. The outcome depends on the ecological question and statistical approach, which determine choices around which sources of variation are taken into account. We argue that typical approaches to long-term species trend modelling using monitoring data are especially susceptible to data gaps since such models do not tend to account for the factors driving missingness. To identify general solutions to this problem, we review empirical studies and use simulation studies to compare some of the most frequently employed approaches to deal with data gaps, including subsampling, weighting and imputation. All these methods have the potential to reduce bias but may come at the cost of increased uncertainty of parameter estimates. Weighting techniques are arguably the least used so far in ecology and have the potential to reduce both the bias and variance of parameter estimates. Regardless of the method, the ability to reduce bias critically depends on knowledge of, and the availability of data on, the factors creating data gaps. We use this review to outline the necessary considerations when dealing with data gaps at different stages of the data collection and analysis workflow.

Historic checklist, core species and temporal composition turnover of birds in an urban protected natural area in central México over 50 years.

The Pedregal de San Ángel Ecological Reserve (REPSA) is located within the central campus of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), in southwestern Mexico City. This area is known for its bird richness, which has been documented over time. However, this historical information has not been compiled, nor has it been assessed whether species composition has changed over time. In this study, we generated the historical checklist of avifauna in the REPSA by integrating data from systematic monitoring, bibliographic review and citizen science. Additionally, we calculated Jaccard's dissimilarity Index (nestedness and species turnover) among bird checklists from each year and evaluated whether this index and its components changed over time. In addition, we estimate whether the proportion of species arriving and becoming extinct in the REPSA is influenced by time (census interval) and by the migratory status of the species. Finally, we identified the core species of the REPSA. Our results indicate that from 1967 to 2023, 258 bird species have been recorded in the REPSA. The Jaccard's dissimilarity and turnover increased and reached an asymptotic trend over time while nestedness showed similar values throughout time. The time and species residency status did not have significant effect on the proportion of species that arrival and become extinct in the reserve. We identified 58 core species based on their persistence; 35 of these are residents, 22 have some migratory movement and one exotic species. Our results highlight the importance of the REPSA as a fundamental habitat for the avifauna of Mexico City, including a wide variety of migratory bird species.

Unveiling the urban colonization of the Asian water monitor (Varanus salvator) across its distribution range using citizen science.

Background: This study aims to investigate the urban colonization of the Asian water monitor (Varanus salvator) across its entire range of distribution, addressing the paucity of research on this species in urban ecosystems. The research spans the geographic range of the Asian water monitor, focusing on urbanized areas where the species accumulates more observations (Bangkok, Colombo, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore). Methods: We conducted a systematic review to comprehensively assess the current knowledge of the species' presence in cities. Additionally, citizen science data from repositories like GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information facility ) were utilized to analyze the distribution patterns of V. salvator in urban environments. To elucidate urban distribution and correct collection biases, observations were weighted by sampling effort, using as a proxy all squamate occurrences available from 2010-2023, including V. salvator. Results: Despite the widespread presence of the Asian water monitor in numerous cities within its distribution range, the available studies on the topic appear to be scarce. Existing research primarily consists of descriptive reports on diet and behavior. Our findings indicate that V. salvator predominantly colonizes green patches in urban areas, such as parks and small gardens. Larger cities exhibit higher records, potentially due to both permanent populations and increased citizen science reporting. Conclusions: The Asian water monitor, as the largest lizard with established populations in cities, remains scarcely studied on a broader scale. However, the urban design of each city seems relevant to understand the distribution patterns within each context. Our study highlights the need for further research to explore the ecological and human dimensions associated with the species' presence in urban environments.

A Citizen Science and Photovoice Approach to Food Asset Mapping and Food System Planning.

Food asset mapping conducted by planners and policymakers usually consists of an online map identifying the locations of food-related sites in cities. However, food asset mapping may be limited in its consideration for ecological and cultural assets critical for community food security. Furthermore, what are considered "assets" may not reflect the everyday lived experiences of marginalized communities. This study applied a "citizen science" photovoice food asset mapping involving diverse participants in the City of Vancouver. In applying a citizen science photovoice approach, this study surfaced "hidden" contexts, food assets, and stories to integrate diverse community perspectives in food system planning.

El mapeo de activos alimentarios realizado por planificadores y formuladores de políticas generalmente consiste en un mapa en línea que identifica las ubicaciones de los sitios relacionados con los alimentos en las ciudades. Sin embargo, el mapeo de activos alimentarios puede estar limitado en su consideración de activos ecológicos y culturales críticos para la seguridad alimentaria de la comunidad. Además, lo que se considera "activos" puede no reflejar las experiencias cotidianas de las comunidades marginadas. Este estudio aplicó un mapeo de activos de alimentos de fotovoz de "ciencia ciudadana" que involucró a diversos participantes en la ciudad de Vancouver. Al aplicar un enfoque de fotovoz de ciencia ciudadana, este estudio reveló contextos "ocultos," activos alimentarios y historias para integrar diversas perspectivas comunitarias en la planificación del sistema alimentario.

Public attitudes towards personal health data sharing in long-term epidemiological research: a Citizen Science approach in the KORA study.

BACKGROUND: Loss to follow-up in long-term epidemiological studies is well-known and often substantial. Consequently, there is a risk of bias to the results. The motivation to take part in an epidemiological study can change over time, but the ways to minimize loss to follow-up are not well studied. The Citizen Science approach offers researchers to engage in direct discussions with study participants and to integrate their opinions and requirements into cohort management. METHODS: Guided group discussions were conducted with study participants from the KORA cohort in the Augsburg Region in Germany, established 40 years ago, as well as a group of independently selected citizens. The aim was to look at the relevant aspects of health studies with a focus on long-term participation. A two-sided questionnaire was developed subsequently in a co-creation process and presented to 500 KORA participants and 2,400 employees of the research facility Helmholtz Munich. RESULTS: The discussions revealed that altruistic motivations, (i.e. supporting research and public health), personal benefits (i.e. a health check-up during a study examination), data protection, and information about research results in layman's terms were crucial to ensure interest and long-term study participation. The results of the questionnaire confirmed these aspects and showed that exclusively digital information channels may be an obstacle for older and less educated people. Thus, paper-based media such as newsletters are still important. CONCLUSIONS: The findings shed light on cohort management and long-term engagement with study participants. A long-term health study needs to benefit public and individual health; the institution needs to be trustworthy; and the results and their impact need to be disseminated in widely understandable terms and by the right means of communication back to the participants.

Occurrence of Seahorses Hippocampus spp. in the Southernmost Part of Western Europe: A New Maximum Depth Record.

Achieving sustainable resource use is a priority to meet future challenges. The Gulf of Cádiz, located in the Atlantic waters of southern Europe, is home to a significant fishing fleet due to the richness and diversity of its ecosystems. Managing this area is complex due to the diversity of variables, including social, ecological, and oceanographic factors. Therefore, multidisciplinary approaches are proposed for implementing conservation strategies. One strategy for defining area-based management measures is through the use of flagship species, such as seahorses. These emblematic animals can assist in defining such measures. However, there is currently scarce information on the occurrence of seahorses in the Gulf of Cádiz. In this study, we present the first occurrence data of two species of the genus Hippocampus (H. hippocampus and H. guttulatus) in this area. The Gulf of Cádiz is not only described as the southernmost region of their distribution in continental Europe, but it is also a significant landmark for the genus Hippocampus, as one adult was captured at a depth of up to 101 m. Five management areas based on differentiated benthic habitats are proposed. We believe that our study has the potential to significantly improve conservation of seahorses and induce a positive impact on the ecosystem.

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.

How does the citizens' choice of water use actions based on their empirical knowledge affect the water quality in a rural community of the Philippines?

This research assessed water quality, based on the purpose of water consumption, in households in the municipality of Barbaza, the Province of Antique, Philippines, according to the national water quality guidelines. The effects of the empirical/traditional water use actions taken by local people on the quality of the water they use were investigated through a descriptive study using water quality measurements. Most of the drinking water in the community did not meet the required standards of pH, total dissolved solids (TDS), or coliform. Tap water and well water samples generally met the pH and TDS standards. However, Escherichia coli (E. coli) and coliform were detected, and nitrogen pollution in well water was also confirmed. Local practices, such as using old clothes as filters for well pumps, increased the coliform concentration from 0-10 CFU/mL to too numerous to count (TNTC) levels of more than 100 CFU/mL. Storing well water in a bucket also affected both E. coli and coliform concentrations. Such empirical/traditional water use actions create a high risk of exposing local people to harmful microorganisms. This research integrated citizen science into the methodology for local water management, which could assist governors, practitioners, and citizens, particularly in Southeast Asia, where strong community relationships exist.

Revisiting current distribution and future habitat suitability models for the endemic Malabar Tree Toad (Pedostibes tuberculosus) using citizen science data.

Climate change is one of the major drivers of biodiversity loss. Among vertebrates, amphibians are one of the more sensitive groups to climate change due to their unique ecology, habitat requirements, narrow thermal tolerance and relatively limited dispersal abilities. We projected the influence of climate change on an endemic toad, Malabar Tree Toad (Pedostibes tuberculosus; hereafter MTT) from the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot, India, for two different shared socio-economic pathways (SSP) using multiple modeling approaches for current and future (2061-2080) scenarios. The data used predominantly comes from a citizen science program, 'Mapping Malabar Tree Toad' which is a part of the Frog Watch citizen science program, India Biodiversity Portal. We also evaluated the availability of suitable habitats for the MTT in Protected Areas (PAs) under the current and future scenarios. Our results show that annual precipitation was the most important bioclimatic variable influencing the distribution of MTT. We used MaxEnt (MEM) and Ensemble (ESM) modeling algorithms. The predicted distribution of MTT with selected environmental layers using MEM was 4556.95 km2 while using ESM was 18,563.76 km2. Overlaying PA boundaries on predicted distribution showed 37 PAs with 32.7% (1491.37 km2) and 44 PAs with 21.9% (4066.25 km2) coverage for MEM and ESM respectively. Among eight future climate scenarios, scenarios with high emissions showed a decreased distribution range from 33.5 to 68.7% of predicted distribution in PAs, while scenarios with low emissions showed an increased distribution range from 1.9 to 111.3% in PAs. PAs from the Central Western Ghats lose most suitable areas with a shift of suitable habitats towards the Southern Western Ghats. This suggests that MTT distribution may be restricted in the future and existing PAs may not be sufficient to conserve their habitats. Restricted and discontinuous distribution along with climate change can limit the dispersal and persistence of MTT populations, thus enhanced surveys of MTT habitats within and outside the PAs of the Western Ghats are an important step in safeguarding the persistence of MTT populations. Overall, our results demonstrate the use of citizen science data and its potential in modeling and understanding the geographic distribution and the calling phenology of an elusive, arboreal, and endemic amphibian species.

Living with my diabetes - introducing eHealth into daily practices of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Objective: Diabetes patients can draw on an increasing number of eHealth apps to support them in the self-management of their disease. While studies so far have focused on patients with type 1 diabetes, we explored how patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) integrate eHealth apps into their practices aimed at managing and coping with the disease, which aspects were considered particularly valuable and which challenges users encountered. Methods: Semi-structured interviews and focus group sessions were conducted to explore how patients cope with T2DM in their daily lives and their attitude towards eHealth. In a further step, four eHealth apps were tested by patients and their expectations and experiences studied by way of qualitative interviews and focus groups. Results: The analysis showed that the study participants valued in particular the possibility to use eHealth apps to sense and gain a better understanding of their own body, to learn about specific responses of their body to nutrition and physical activity, and to support changes in daily routines and lifestyle. Key challenges encountered related to difficulties in interpreting the data, matching the data to other bodily sensations, getting overly occupied with the disease and difficulties in integrating the apps into personal, family, and care practices. Conclusion: Under certain conditions, eHealth can play an important role for patients in developing a nuanced, personal understanding of their body and coping with T2DM. A prerequisite is that eHealth needs to be fitted into the specific practices of users, and patients desire a strong role by their care professionals in providing support in interpretation of data.

The societal impact of Open Science: a scoping review.

Open Science (OS) aims, in part, to drive greater societal impact of academic research. Government, funder and institutional policies state that it should further democratize research and increase learning and awareness, evidence-based policy-making, the relevance of research to society's problems, and public trust in research. Yet, measuring the societal impact of OS has proven challenging and synthesized evidence of it is lacking. This study fills this gap by systematically scoping the existing evidence of societal impact driven by OS and its various aspects, including Citizen Science (CS), Open Access (OA), Open/FAIR Data (OFD), Open Code/Software and others. Using the PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews and searches conducted in Web of Science, Scopus and relevant grey literature, we identified 196 studies that contain evidence of societal impact. The majority concern CS, with some focused on OA, and only a few addressing other aspects. Key areas of impact found are education and awareness, climate and environment, and social engagement. We found no literature documenting evidence of the societal impact of OFD and limited evidence of societal impact in terms of policy, health, and trust in academic research. Our findings demonstrate a critical need for additional evidence and suggest practical and policy implications.

Quantification of additives in beached plastic debris from Aotearoa New Zealand.

Plastics have become an essential part of modern society. Their properties can be easily manipulated by incorporating additives to impart desirable attributes, such as colour, flexibility, or stability. However, many additives are classified as hazardous substances. To better understand the risk of plastic pollution within marine ecosystems, the type and concentration of additives in plastic debris needs to be established. We report the quantification of thirty-one common plastic additives (including plasticisers, antioxidants, and UV stabilisers) in beached plastic debris collected across Aotearoa New Zealand. Additives were isolated from the plastic debris by solvent extraction and quantified using high-resolution liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. Twenty-five of the target additives were detected across 200 items of debris, with plasticisers detected at the highest frequency (99 % detection frequency). Additives were detected in all samples, with a median of four additives per debris item. A significantly higher number of additives were detected per debris item for polyvinyl chloride (median = 7) than polyethylene or polypropylene (median = 4). The additives bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, diisononyl phthalate, diisodecyl phthalate, and antioxidant 702 were detected at the highest concentrations (up to 196,930 µg/g). The sum concentration of additives per debris item (up to 320,325 µg/g) was significantly higher in polyvinyl chloride plastics (median 94,716 µg/g) compared to other plastic types, primarily due to the presence of phthalate plasticisers. Non-target analysis was consistent with the targeted analysis, indicating a higher number and concentration of additives in polyvinyl chloride debris items compared to all other polymer types. Feature identification indicated the presence of more additives than previously detected in the targeted analysis, including plasticisers (phthalate and non-phthalate), processing aids, and nucleating agents. This study highlights phthalates and polyvinyl chloride as key targets for consideration in ecotoxicology and risk assessments, and the development of policies to reduce the impacts of plastic pollution.

Phenological mismatches mitigate the ecological impact of a biological invader on amphibian communities.

Horizon scans have emerged as a valuable tool to anticipate the incoming invasive alien species (IAS) by judging species on their potential impacts. However, little research has been conducted on quantifying actual impacts and assessing causes of species-specific vulnerabilities to particular IAS due to persistent methodological challenges. The underlying interspecific mechanisms driving species-specific vulnerabilities therefore remain poorly understood, even though they can substantially improve the accuracy of risk assessments. Given that interspecific interactions underlying ecological impacts of IAS are often shaped by phenological synchrony, we tested the hypothesis that temporal mismatches in breeding phenology between native species and IAS can mitigate their ecological impacts. Focusing on the invasive American bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus), we combined an environmental DNA (eDNA) quantitative barcoding and metabarcoding survey in Belgium with a global meta-analysis, and integrated citizen-science data on breeding phenology. We examined whether the presence of native amphibian species was negatively related to the presence or abundance of invasive bullfrogs and whether this relationship was affected by their phenological mismatches. The field study revealed a significant negative effect of increasing bullfrog eDNA concentrations on native amphibian species richness and community structure. These observations were shaped by species-specific vulnerabilities to invasive bullfrogs, with late spring- and summer-breeding species being strongly affected, while winter-breeding species remained unaffected. This trend was confirmed by the global meta-analysis. A significant negative relationship was observed between phenological mismatch and the impact of bullfrogs. Specifically, native amphibian species with breeding phenology differing by 6 weeks or less from invasive bullfrogs were more likely to be absent in the presence of bullfrogs than species whose phenology differed by more than 6 weeks with that of bullfrogs. Taken together, we present a novel method based on the combination of aqueous eDNA quantitative barcoding and metabarcoding to quantify the ecological impacts of biological invaders at the community level. We show that phenological mismatches between native and invasive species can be a strong predictor of invasion impact regardless of ecological or methodological context. Therefore, we advocate for the integration of temporal alignment between native and IAS's phenologies into invasion impact frameworks.