Data from: Safari science: assessing the reliability of citizen science data for wildlife surveys

1. Protected areas are the cornerstone of global conservation, yet
financial support for basic monitoring infrastructure is lacking in 60% of
them. Citizen science holds potential to address these shortcomings in
wildlife monitoring, particularly for resource-limited conservation
initiatives in developing countries - if we can account for the
reliability of data produced by volunteer citizen scientists (VCS) . 2.
This study tests the reliability of VCS data vs. data produced by trained
ecologists, presenting a hierarchical framework for integrating diverse
datasets to assess extra variability from VCS data. 3. Our results show
that, while VCS data are likely to be overdispersed for our system, the
overdispersion varies widely by species. We contend that citizen science
methods, within the context of East African drylands, may be more
appropriate for species with large body sizes, which are relatively rare,
or those that form small herds. VCS perceptions of the charisma of a
species may also influence their enthusiasm for recording it. 4. Tailored
program design (such as incentives for VCS) may mitigate the biases in
citizen science data and improve overall participation. However, the cost
of designing and implementing high quality citizen science programs may be
prohibitive for the small protected areas that would most benefit from
these approaches. 5. Synthesis and applications. As citizen science
methods continue to gain momentum, it is critical that managers remain
cautious in their implementation of these programs while working to ensure
methods match data purpose. Context-specific tests of citizen science data
quality can improve program implementation, and separate data models
should be used when VCS variability differs from trained ecologists’ data.
Partnerships across protected areas and between protected areas and other
conservation institutions could defray the costs of citizen science
program design and implementation.03-Apr-2017