Data Reliability in a Citizen Science Protocol for Monitoring Stingless Bees Flight Activity

Insects

卷:12

Natalia P. Ghilardi-Lopes¹  Bruno Albertini²  Antonio M. Saraiva²  Jailson N. Leocadio²  Celso Barbiéri³  Tiago M. Francoy³  Sheina Koffler⁴ 

[1] Centro de Ciências Naturais e Humanas, Federal University of ABC, R. Arcturus 3, São Bernardo do Campo 09606-070, SP, Brazil;

[2] Escola Politécnica, University of São Paulo, Av. Prof. Luciano Gualberto 158, Tv. 3, São Paulo 05508-010, SP, Brazil;

[3] Escola de Artes, Ciências e Humanidades, University of São Paulo, R. Arlindo Bettio 1000, São Paulo 03828-000, SP, Brazil;

[4] Instituto de Estudos Avançados, University of São Paulo, R. Praça do Relógio 109, São Paulo 05508-970, SP, Brazil;

关键词: biodiversity monitoring;    data quality;    meliponini;    protocol validation;    volunteer participation;   

DOI  :  10.3390/insects12090766

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Although the quality of citizen science (CS) data is often a concern, evidence for high-quality CS data increases in the scientific literature. This study aimed to assess the data reliability of a structured CS protocol for monitoring stingless bees’ flight activity. We tested (1) data accuracy for replication among volunteers and for expert validation and (2) precision, comparing dispersion between citizen scientists and expert data. Two distinct activity dimensions were considered: (a) perception of flight activity and (b) flight activity counts (entrances, exits, and pollen load). No significant differences were found among groups regarding entrances and exits. However, replicator citizen scientists presented a higher chance of perceiving pollen than original data collectors and experts, likely a false positive. For those videos in which there was an agreement about pollen presence, the effective pollen counts were similar (with higher dispersion for citizen scientists), indicating the reliability of CS-collected data. The quality of the videos, a potential source of variance, did not influence the results. Increasing practical training could be an alternative to improve pollen data quality. Our study shows that CS provides reliable data for monitoring bee activity and highlights the relevance of a multi-dimensional approach for assessing CS data quality.

【 授权许可】

Unknown