Announcements
Announcements
This publication reports on the findings of a citizen science project carried out by SEI researchers as part of the Open Air Laboratories (OPAL) project, a UK National Lottery funded programme.
Citizen science is having increasing influence on environmental monitoring as its advantages are becoming recognised. However methodologies are often simplified to make them accessible to citizen scientists. The authors tested whether a recent citizen science survey (the OPAL Air Survey) could detect trends in lichen community composition over transects away from roads. They hypothesized that the abundance of nitrophilic lichens would decrease with distance from the road, while that of nitrophobic lichens would increase. The hypothesized changes were detected along strong pollution gradients, but not where the road source was relatively weak, or background pollution relatively high. The authors conclude that the simplified OPAL methodology can detect large contrasts in nitrogenous pollution, but it may not be able to detect more subtle changes in pollution exposure. Similar studies are needed in conjunction with the ever-growing body of citizen science work to ensure that the limitations of these methods are fully understood.
Read the article (external link to journal)
Mike Ashmore
Other publication / Citizen science is a rapidly expanding field. These ten principles are presented as a framework to foster excellence.
Event on 01 May in Coventry / Sam Bland will host this session on the SAMHE project and the opportunities and challenges of using web apps to engage young people in citizen science.
Other publication / SEI York researchers contributed to a new UK Nitrogen Balance Sheet, developed for WWF-UK by the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology.
Design and development by Soapbox.
