Elementary School Children Contribute to Environmental Research as Citizen Scientists

Research benefits increasingly from valuable contributions by citizen scientists. Mostly, participating adults investigate specific species, ecosystems or phenology to address conservation issues, but ecosystem functions supporting ecosystem health are rarely addressed and other demographic groups rarely involved. As part of a project investigating seed predation and dispersal as ecosystem functions along an urban-rural gradient, we tested whether elementary school children can contribute to the project as citizen scientists. Specifically, we compared data estimating vegetation cover, measuring vegetation height and counting seeds from a seed removal experiment, that were collected by children and scientists in schoolyards. Children counted seeds similarly to scientists but under- or overestimated vegetation cover and measured different heights. We conclude that children can be involved as citizen scientists in research projects according to their skill level. However, more sophisticated tasks require specific training to become familiarized with scientific experiments and the development of needed skills and methods.

科研工作日益受益于公民科学家（citizen scientists）所做出的宝贵贡献。当前参与科研的多为成年群体，他们通过调查特定物种、生态系统或物候来解决保护议题，但支撑生态系统健康的生态系统功能却鲜有被纳入研究范畴，其他人口统计群体也极少参与其中。本研究作为沿城乡梯度探究种子捕食与传播这两类生态系统功能项目的一部分，旨在验证小学生能否以公民科学家的身份参与该科研项目。具体而言，我们对比了由学生与科研人员在校园内的种子移除实验中收集的数据，这些数据包括估算植被覆盖度、测量植被高度以及计数种子数量。儿童在种子计数环节的表现与科研人员相近，但在植被覆盖度估算上存在高估或低估的偏差，且所测得的植被高度与科研人员结果存在差异。研究结论表明，可根据技能水平将儿童纳入公民科学家群体参与科研项目。不过，对于更复杂的科研任务，则需开展针对性培训，帮助参与者熟悉科学实验流程并掌握所需的技能与方法。