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When do citizen scientists record biodiversity? Non‐random temporal patterns of recording effort and associated factors
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Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
1. Citizen science data are increasingly used for ecological research, biodiversity
conservation and monitoring. However, these data often present significant
analytical challenges due to uneven recording efforts by citizen scientists.
Biases caused by intra-annual differences in levels of recording activity can be
particularly severe, hindering the use of citizen science data in research areas such
as population dynamics and phenology. Therefore, understanding the temporal
patterns and drivers of recording activity by citizen scientists is essential.
2. In this study, we provide a detailed assessment of how weather and calendarrelated factors relate to levels of biodiversity recording activity by citizen scientists
at a daily resolution. To perform this, we analyse the recording patterns for six
tree species in the Iberian Peninsula, which maintain a consistent appearance
throughout the year. Observation data were collected from iNaturalist, a leading
platform for citizen science data. We used boosted regression trees (BRT) to
compare observed recording activity patterns with those expected by chance.
Our analysis included a comprehensive set of explanatory variables, such as the
day of the week, the month, holidays, temperature, accumulated precipitation,
wind intensity and snow depth.
3. The BRT models demonstrated good predictive performance, with the correlation
between predicted and observed patterns of recording activity (left out of model
training) ranging from 0.55 to 0.91, depending on the species. The day of the
week, month of the year, and daily temperature consistently emerged as the most
important predictors. Recording activity was higher on weekends, to some extent
on Fridays and during the spring months. Extreme low and high temperatures
were generally associated with lower recording activity, although there were
exceptions. Precipitation and wind speed had relatively lower importance but
remained relevant, with increased precipitation and wind intensity typically
associated with reduced recording activity. In contrast, public holidays and
accumulated snow demonstrated minimal to negligible importance.
4. Our findings show that citizen scientists record more frequently on weekends,
during mild weather and in spring. By addressing these non-random patterns in recording activity, we can maximise the utility of citizen-collected data for
research and applied purposes.
Description
Keywords
Biodiversity monitoring Citizen science iNaturalist Recording activity Temporal bias
Pedagogical Context
Citation
Rosário, I. T., Tiago, P., Chozas, S. & Capinha, C. (2025). When do citizen scientists record biodiversity? Non-random temporal patterns of recording effort and associated factors. People and Nature, 00, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1002/pan3.70017
Publisher
Wiley