CITIZENS SCIENCE PROJECTS IN BRITISH COLUMBIA


Bullfrog, photo by Brian Klinkenberg


Citizen science projects are variable in nature, but can include detailed geographic and georeferenced information. In BC, they are growing in number and take several different forms.  Citizen science efforts can provide valuable data on species diversity and occurrences in a region, but only if they are built upon a foundation of accuracy and data vetting. This means that the expertise involved must be appropriate, and data records should be vouchered and identification confirmed by experts. Unless this occurs, the complexities of identification of specialty groups limits the usefulness of the observations.  For example, in documenting plant diversity in a region that supports 46 species of buttercups (genus Ranunculus), it is not sufficent to identify species during surveys using field guides where only a handful of species are discussed.  This is especially true for groups that require a degree of taxonomic knowlege about the group, or expert verification.  In these cases, accurate identifications will be dependent upon specimen collection and microscopic work.  Without these, the usefulness or reliability of the data collected is limited.

The following citizen science projects are multi-year projects that are founded on a basis of data accuracy and vouchering and confirmation of data by experts:

  • The British Columbia Breeding Bird Atlas -- citizen scientists are contributing detailed georeferenced data about BC's breeding birds.  This is a substantive study of breeding bird distributions in the province, and is providing key insights into breeding areas and populations for many species.   Accuracy of data gathering is highlighted by project coordinators.
  • The Whistler Biodiversity Project --this was BC's first Bioblitz project and is founded on considerable involvement of experts, and vouchering and confirmation of records. It is a multi-year project that include georeferenced species records. View a video of the Whistler Bioblittz 2007 and 2008 . 
  • E-Flora BC: the Atlas of the Plants of British Columbia --this ongoing project is based upon vouchered and confirmed records of plant and fungi species documented in British Columbia, as well as photographic records vetted by a team of experts. All records are geo-referenced.

Additonal citizen science projects in BC include:

  • Bioblitz for Cheam Lake Wetlands. Read the report here .
  • Bioblitz for West Creek Wetlands.  Read the report here .
  • Report -a-Weed, a system of volunteer contributed records for nvasive species in BC that is observation based. 

Read  more about Volunteered Geographic Information and Biodiversity, and the importance of data accuracy

Please  let us know  if you are aware of other citizen science projects in BC.

Please cite these pages as:

Author, Date. Page title. In Klinkenberg, Brian. (Editor) 2010. Biodiversity of British Columbia [www.biodiversity.bc.ca]. Lab for Advanced Spatial Analysis, Department of Geography, University of British Columbia, Vancouver.

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