anyone can send in records! but who wants them? dr linda davies imperial college london...
TRANSCRIPT
Anyone can send in records!
But who wants them?
Dr Linda Davies
Imperial College London
Making environmental monitoring more accessible
1. Background
2. OPAL programme
3. A case study: British Lichen Society
4. Widening participation in environmental monitoring
5. Challenges
6. Next steps
Concept
‘It is not only scientists and government
that should be involved in monitoring but
the wider community, particularly young people.’
K. Mellanby (Editor) Environmental Pollution (1974)
Background: Environment
“Growth which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs.”
Earth Summit, Rio (1992), Rio+20 (2012) Agenda 21 – Action plan for sustainable development Convention on Climate Change Convention on Biological Diversity + protocols
Our responsibilities ‘Governments alone cannot resolve the problems.’ ‘Everyone has a part to play.’ ‘Think global, act local.’
Survey and document the extent of biodiversity on their own territories;
Promote conservation and sustainable use of land, air and water;
Improve education and public awareness about the value of biodiversity.
Background: People
• Contact with nature is important for good physical and mental
health
(Pretty et al 2005, 2007, 2009 ; Dillon, 2011, Dickie, Ozdemiroglu & Phang, 2011; WCMC, 2012)
• Contact with nature is important for childhood development
(Thomas & Thompson 2004; Louv, 2006;
England Marketing 2009;Natural England, 2011;
National Trust, 2012)
“If you lose your interest in the natural world you’ve lost a very
precious possession and something which could give you great pleasure
for the rest of your life.” (Sir David Attenborough, 2012)
“As children become disconnected from the natural world they
understand it less.” (Bird, 2007)
OPAL Objectives
1. Get more people outside exploring and recording the world around them;
2. Develop an innovative environmental education programme;
3. Inspire a new generation;
4. Strengthen collaboration between the statutory, voluntary and community sectors;
5. Gain a greater understanding of the state of the natural environment.
National Centres Soil: ImperialAir: ImperialWater: University College LondonClimate: UK Meteorological Office
Biodiversity: Natural History Museum (Taxonomy)Open University (iSPOT)
Associates: Environment Agency, Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)
Support ServicesNatural History Museum Portal/database/mediaField Studies CouncilSchools/field packsNational Biodiversity NetworkRecording softwareRoyal Parks
Newcastle University
University of Nottingham
University of York
University of Hertfordshire
Imperial College London
Imperial College London (Silwood Park)
University of Plymouth
University of Central Lancashire
University of Birmingham
OPAL Natural History Societies Small Grants (NHM)
• NHM Consultation - 800+ organisations contacted• 19% responded 81% did not
What did they need?• 86% want more members• More training in whole organism biology• Help with recording, validation of records and uploading data to the NBN• Good websites and apps• Organised programme of events to bring societies together with each
other and with the public • A national body to represent societies • Regular sources of funding for societies • Education: taxonomy and fieldwork in schools and universities
• 96 small grants totalling £219,498.00• Nature Groups Near You – 2013• Taxonomy resources, publicity and events
Case study: British Lichen Society
British Lichen Society founded in 1958
25 founder members – several still active in the Society
Council & Board of Trustees
Committees: Membership, Data, Conservation, Education & Promotions, Finance.
Current membership >650 (50% overseas)
Objectives:• to promote and advance the teaching and study of lichens;• to raise public awareness of the beauty of lichens and of their
importance as indicators of the health of our environment;• to encourage and actively support the conservation of lichens and their
habitats.
British Lichen Society: Data
1958 Lists were first combined and published through the Society
1963 First formal recording scheme (pre1960/post 1960)• Mapping cards• Mapping of data• Fascicles published and sold• Data now available on NBN • Encouraged recorders to visit areas where data was scarce
1990s BLS Database – Biobase
2000s Recorder 2002 – Recorder 6 (current)
2003 Scottish records digitised
2009/12 England & Wales data digitised
2012 1.2 million lichen records available through NBN
2012 0.5m records from the mapping scheme shared through NBN
2,383 species, varieties and forms
2012 Available through GBIF – 34,000 Xanthoria parietina 23,000 from UK
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
British Lichen Society: Data
• Costs and data sharing• Data quality: huge effort with data validation
• Rare and scarce species go through ‘expert review’• Duplicate records have been removed• Grid reference errors - 6% new records still incorrect• NBN Data cleaner
• Recording bias: Traprain Law,Scotland: • Brian Coppins -168,676 records• Francis Rose – 126,758 records• Chris Hitch – 73,446 records• Peter James – 61,681 records
• 50% of 1.2m records from six recorders• 99% of records from 30 active recorders• BLS uses a paper-based recording system
Location Grid ref VC checked? Recorders Date(s) Altitude Site and visit comments BLS no. Species
British Lichen Society & OPAL Survey
• Research questions • Design of the OPAL National Survey on Air & Lichens• Testing with members and the public• Training programme
• Video• Powerpoint on lichens • Training days across England
• Instant feedback system – what does your data mean?• Educational pathway: resources for primary schools, teachers etc.• Promotion of OPAL programme through radio broadcasts and
interviews• Events: Specimens, equipment and enthusiasm
Air & Lichen Survey
NITROGENSENSITIVELICHENS
+1
INTERMEDIATELICHENS
0
NITROGENTOLERANTLICHENS
-1
Pollution score automatically calculated when data is entered into the OPAL database
Social questions, location informationActivity: record lichens and invertebrates on 2-4 trees Tree girth and tree speciesLichens: abundance score on trunk and twigsInvertebrates identified to broad groupsTar spot on sycamore Online results map
BLS: Engaging the public
• 20,000 packs to schools & 20,000 through regional network • Lichenologist assigned to every community scientist • Focus on hard-to-reach areas• Schools – expert help to students involved in projects initiated by OPAL• Royal Society Summer Exhibition 2012• One day training courses for beginners at field centres across England
part funded by OPAL and part by BLS• BLS funded Next Steps - a new BLS course to build knowledge
from the initial 9 lichens to include another 20.• Improvements to the membership form to
encourage newcomers• On going support for all OPAL initiatives
Engaging the public
Impact of OPAL Surveys
3,700 responses to online questionnaire on completion of air survey 50% of survey participants could not identify a lichen 75% would recommend OPAL to friends
87% have learnt new skills92% have learnt something new
600 responses to detailed online survey (all surveys)84% are likely to do another survey45% think differently about the environment40% are likely to join an environmental group or society37% would change their behaviour towards the environment
• Fun is the word most often used to describe OPAL• Taking part in research was a key motivating
factor• Teachers more confident about fieldwork• Evidence of improvements to health• Evidence of improved community cohesion
OPAL Data – who wants public records?
• Lichen records from over 4,000 sites • Surveys submitted vs completed estimated at 1:5 • Data
• Participants do not like entering data!!!• >50% of data are from school children• Confidence in species identification is low but
• 95% correctly identified Xanthoria parietina in field validation exercise• majority of errors within one of the three classes thus not affecting main
conclusions
• Analysis to be completed early 2013• OPAL Soil survey data fully analysed
• Public data broadly followed existing data (BGS,EA)• Species level validation 60-70% correct
• Analysis identified interesting trends confirmed by targeted fieldwork• Provided data from sites not previously surveyed• Raised awareness of the importance of soil and soil research Series of publications
Data quality – what can we do to minimise error
1. Help with identification
2. Help with recording
3. Use of photography
4. Rank expertise
5. Use numerical data
6. Online validation
7. Field validation
8. Source / metadata
iSPOT: Social network for species identification from photographs submitted online • 900,000 visitors+ to the website• 17,000 registered users• 100,000 photographs• 88% photographs identified within 24hours• 86 natural history societies• Photographic records passed on to Societies• Bayesian Keys - NBN mapping scheme
Indicia: Basic kit to build a wildlife recording website• 500,000+ users from Plantlife to British Dragonfly Society
– UK & EU wide
Consortium for the Barcode of Life (CBOL)• to promote the exploration and development of DNA barcoding as a global standard for
species identification
New Technology – Identification, recording, location
Summary: local knowledge is important
1. Exploring outdoors is fun and important for our well-being2. All sectors of society should and can be involved in monitoring3. All aspects of the environment can be monitored: water, biodiversity, climate4. Contributing data makes people feel valuable5. We need to maximise the value of the information recorded by the public:
Survey designNew technologyData controlsValidation systemsMetadata Reputation management
6. Data storage7. Data accessibility and usability (mapping)8. Data analysis, interpretation and application in conservation9. Feedback to data providers essential10. Support expertise in natural history societies and groups
OPAL Earthworm Records on NBN
OPAL
OPAL Community Report published January 2013
7th National Survey May 2013
Tree Health – pests and diseases
OPAL charity
European NGO for lay knowledge
Working in partnership with similar developments in the USA
Acknowledgements
British Lichen Society: Janet SimpkinsBarbara HiltonPat Wolseley
Big Lottery Fund
OPAL Partnership - NBN
Natural History Societies