Citizen science for butterfly conservation

Simplified butterfly assessment scheme used in Viel-Falter

Ordinary citizens have become increasingly important to scientific research over the past decade. Today, mobile phone technologies, relatively cheap cameras and almost ubiquitous internet connectivity have opened up new opportunities for conservation organisations to engage with ordinary citizens and encourage citizen science. A citizen scientist is a volunteer who collects and/or processes data as part of a scientific inquiry. This could mean noting the plants found on a day trip or more systematically recording wildlife in a special area.

Colleagues in Austria developed a specific assessment scheme suitable for citizen scientists and tested it at 35 sampling sites in Tyrol. They wanted to find out if trained and supervised school kids are able to systematically collect occurrence data on diurnal butterflies, and how the data could contribute to a permanent butterfly monitoring system. In 2013 they launched the citizen science project Viel-Falter.

By comparing with independent assessments conducted by professional butterfly experts, we investigated if the achieved data quality is sufficient to support a permanent butterfly monitoring system. Additionally, we investigated how the pupil’s motivation to engage in butterfly observation activities develops during the course of the project and what project factors might be crucial to support a continuous engagement.

Not surprisingly this comparison revealed that the degree of accordance varied substantially between different species or species groups. However, the data collected was successfully applied to predict the general habitat quality for butterflies using a linear regression model. This is indeed very good news as it shows that well-designed and executed citizen science projects can provide biodiversity data comparable to data gathered by professionals. Our experience during the School Malaise Project was very similar. 

There is an increased need and demand for large scale biodiversity assessments and continuous monitoring schemes but professional resources for collecting such data are rather limited. Citizen science projects like Viel-Falter might become a very important factor for future collecting and processing of biodiversity data. Such projects also come with immense added value as they generate authentic opportunities for environmental education.