Patterns of community science data use in peer-reviewed research on biodiversity

Abstract

Community science ("citizen science") represent a potentially abundant and inexpensive source of information for biodiversity research. However, analyzing such data has inherent challenges. To explore where and how community science data are translated into scientific knowledge, we conducted a literature review in a sample of 334 peer-reviewed scientific articles. Specifically, we investigated how the use of community science data varied among taxonomic groups and geographic regions, and what threats to biodiversity, if any, were examined. Community science data were used mostly for research on birds and invertebrates, and the data used were mainly from the United States and the United Kingdom. Literature in certain countries used a wider breadth of projects, while others made repeated use of comparably fewer datasets. Community science efforts were largely used to measure abundance, trends, distributions, and range shifts. However, few articles linked these metrics to any particular threats to biodiversity. Furthermore, community science data were used infrequently for research on threatened species and limited mostly to count data rather than collecting more specific information such as life history, phenological or genetic data, suggesting that community science may be underutilized for these key aspects of biodiversity conservation. We conclude that even with the rise of community science data use in research, there remains tremendous potential to better use these existing datasets for biodiversity research.