Low-cost citizen science effectively monitors the rapid expansion of a marine invasive species
Autor(a) principal: | |
---|---|
Data de Publicação: | 2021 |
Outros Autores: | , , |
Tipo de documento: | Artigo |
Idioma: | eng |
Título da fonte: | Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) |
Texto Completo: | http://hdl.handle.net/10400.1/17355 |
Resumo: | Citizen science and informed citizens have become fundamental in providing the first records and accounts about the expansion of numerous non-indigenous species. However, implementing a successful citizen science campaign can be expensive and particularly difficult for aquatic species. Here, we demonstrate how a low-cost citizen science campaign and its outreach plan in social and traditional media enabled to track the expansion of the Atlantic blue crab Callinectes sapidus Rathbun, 1896 along the coast of Algarve (southern Portugal, Europe). We describe the outreach strategy and a cost-benefit analysis of the first year of the citizen science campaign. Social media platforms allowed us to reach a significant number of citizens (over 31,500 clicks in Facebook publications), while traditional media gave national visibility to the citizen science campaign and biological invasions. In only 1 year, we documented the spread of the invasive Atlantic blue crab across the entire 140 km of the Algarve coast with 166 valid observations referring to 1747 specimens, submitted by 62 citizen scientists. We spent 0 € on the citizen science campaign, but considering the time invested in the campaign the cost would have summed up to 3,751 €, while the total minimum cost for one scientist to go to the field and retrieve the equivalent information would have exceeded 11,000 €. We used free online tools of communication to obtain the records about the Atlantic blue crab, instead of a dedicated web platform or mobile app, and handled social media accounts ourselves, which saved us at least 18,815 €. The citizen science campaign revealed that the Atlantic blue crab is unequivocally established in southern Portugal and that females appear to exhibit summer migrations to coastal areas to spawn as in the native area. Overall, our lowcost citizen science campaign effectively documented the rapid spread of a marine invasive species while providing some insights into its ecology. Our strategy can be easily replicated and implemented elsewhere in the world to tackle the ever-growing problem of biological invasions while increasing the scientific literacy of local populations. |
id |
RCAP_a73f3ab92ed36841a7e74a67de736c70 |
---|---|
oai_identifier_str |
oai:sapientia.ualg.pt:10400.1/17355 |
network_acronym_str |
RCAP |
network_name_str |
Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) |
repository_id_str |
7160 |
spelling |
Low-cost citizen science effectively monitors the rapid expansion of a marine invasive speciesCiência cidadã de baixo custo monitora efetivamente a rápida expansão de uma espécie invasora marinhaBiological invasionsNon-indigenous speciesRange expansionBlue crabCallinectes sapidusSocial mediaFacebookPortugalCitizen science and informed citizens have become fundamental in providing the first records and accounts about the expansion of numerous non-indigenous species. However, implementing a successful citizen science campaign can be expensive and particularly difficult for aquatic species. Here, we demonstrate how a low-cost citizen science campaign and its outreach plan in social and traditional media enabled to track the expansion of the Atlantic blue crab Callinectes sapidus Rathbun, 1896 along the coast of Algarve (southern Portugal, Europe). We describe the outreach strategy and a cost-benefit analysis of the first year of the citizen science campaign. Social media platforms allowed us to reach a significant number of citizens (over 31,500 clicks in Facebook publications), while traditional media gave national visibility to the citizen science campaign and biological invasions. In only 1 year, we documented the spread of the invasive Atlantic blue crab across the entire 140 km of the Algarve coast with 166 valid observations referring to 1747 specimens, submitted by 62 citizen scientists. We spent 0 € on the citizen science campaign, but considering the time invested in the campaign the cost would have summed up to 3,751 €, while the total minimum cost for one scientist to go to the field and retrieve the equivalent information would have exceeded 11,000 €. We used free online tools of communication to obtain the records about the Atlantic blue crab, instead of a dedicated web platform or mobile app, and handled social media accounts ourselves, which saved us at least 18,815 €. The citizen science campaign revealed that the Atlantic blue crab is unequivocally established in southern Portugal and that females appear to exhibit summer migrations to coastal areas to spawn as in the native area. Overall, our lowcost citizen science campaign effectively documented the rapid spread of a marine invasive species while providing some insights into its ecology. Our strategy can be easily replicated and implemented elsewhere in the world to tackle the ever-growing problem of biological invasions while increasing the scientific literacy of local populations.Frontiers MediaSapientiaEncarnação, JoãoBaptista, VâniaTeodosio, MariaMorais, Pedro2021-11-29T17:29:44Z2021-112021-11-01T00:00:00Zinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/articleapplication/pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/10400.1/17355eng10.3389/fenvs.2021.7527052296-665Xinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessreponame:Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)instname:Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informaçãoinstacron:RCAAP2023-07-24T10:29:29Zoai:sapientia.ualg.pt:10400.1/17355Portal AgregadorONGhttps://www.rcaap.pt/oai/openaireopendoar:71602024-03-19T20:07:20.958108Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) - Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informaçãofalse |
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv |
Low-cost citizen science effectively monitors the rapid expansion of a marine invasive species Ciência cidadã de baixo custo monitora efetivamente a rápida expansão de uma espécie invasora marinha |
title |
Low-cost citizen science effectively monitors the rapid expansion of a marine invasive species |
spellingShingle |
Low-cost citizen science effectively monitors the rapid expansion of a marine invasive species Encarnação, João Biological invasions Non-indigenous species Range expansion Blue crab Callinectes sapidus Social media Portugal |
title_short |
Low-cost citizen science effectively monitors the rapid expansion of a marine invasive species |
title_full |
Low-cost citizen science effectively monitors the rapid expansion of a marine invasive species |
title_fullStr |
Low-cost citizen science effectively monitors the rapid expansion of a marine invasive species |
title_full_unstemmed |
Low-cost citizen science effectively monitors the rapid expansion of a marine invasive species |
title_sort |
Low-cost citizen science effectively monitors the rapid expansion of a marine invasive species |
author |
Encarnação, João |
author_facet |
Encarnação, João Baptista, Vânia Teodosio, Maria Morais, Pedro |
author_role |
author |
author2 |
Baptista, Vânia Teodosio, Maria Morais, Pedro |
author2_role |
author author author |
dc.contributor.none.fl_str_mv |
Sapientia |
dc.contributor.author.fl_str_mv |
Encarnação, João Baptista, Vânia Teodosio, Maria Morais, Pedro |
dc.subject.por.fl_str_mv |
Biological invasions Non-indigenous species Range expansion Blue crab Callinectes sapidus Social media Portugal |
topic |
Biological invasions Non-indigenous species Range expansion Blue crab Callinectes sapidus Social media Portugal |
description |
Citizen science and informed citizens have become fundamental in providing the first records and accounts about the expansion of numerous non-indigenous species. However, implementing a successful citizen science campaign can be expensive and particularly difficult for aquatic species. Here, we demonstrate how a low-cost citizen science campaign and its outreach plan in social and traditional media enabled to track the expansion of the Atlantic blue crab Callinectes sapidus Rathbun, 1896 along the coast of Algarve (southern Portugal, Europe). We describe the outreach strategy and a cost-benefit analysis of the first year of the citizen science campaign. Social media platforms allowed us to reach a significant number of citizens (over 31,500 clicks in Facebook publications), while traditional media gave national visibility to the citizen science campaign and biological invasions. In only 1 year, we documented the spread of the invasive Atlantic blue crab across the entire 140 km of the Algarve coast with 166 valid observations referring to 1747 specimens, submitted by 62 citizen scientists. We spent 0 € on the citizen science campaign, but considering the time invested in the campaign the cost would have summed up to 3,751 €, while the total minimum cost for one scientist to go to the field and retrieve the equivalent information would have exceeded 11,000 €. We used free online tools of communication to obtain the records about the Atlantic blue crab, instead of a dedicated web platform or mobile app, and handled social media accounts ourselves, which saved us at least 18,815 €. The citizen science campaign revealed that the Atlantic blue crab is unequivocally established in southern Portugal and that females appear to exhibit summer migrations to coastal areas to spawn as in the native area. Overall, our lowcost citizen science campaign effectively documented the rapid spread of a marine invasive species while providing some insights into its ecology. Our strategy can be easily replicated and implemented elsewhere in the world to tackle the ever-growing problem of biological invasions while increasing the scientific literacy of local populations. |
publishDate |
2021 |
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv |
2021-11-29T17:29:44Z 2021-11 2021-11-01T00:00:00Z |
dc.type.status.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion |
dc.type.driver.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/article |
format |
article |
status_str |
publishedVersion |
dc.identifier.uri.fl_str_mv |
http://hdl.handle.net/10400.1/17355 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10400.1/17355 |
dc.language.iso.fl_str_mv |
eng |
language |
eng |
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv |
10.3389/fenvs.2021.752705 2296-665X |
dc.rights.driver.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
eu_rights_str_mv |
openAccess |
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv |
application/pdf |
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv |
Frontiers Media |
publisher.none.fl_str_mv |
Frontiers Media |
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv |
reponame:Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) instname:Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informação instacron:RCAAP |
instname_str |
Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informação |
instacron_str |
RCAAP |
institution |
RCAAP |
reponame_str |
Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) |
collection |
Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) |
repository.name.fl_str_mv |
Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) - Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informação |
repository.mail.fl_str_mv |
|
_version_ |
1799133317723848704 |