Population variability in species can be deduced from opportunistic citizen science records: a case study using British butterflies
Population variability in species can be deduced from opportunistic citizen science records: a case study using British butterflies
复制标题
DOI：
10.1111/icad.12242
复制
发表时间：
2018-03-01
影响因子：
3.5
通讯作者：
Oliver, Tom H.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Mason, Suzanna C.;Hill, Jane K.;Oliver, Tom H.
丰富的数据是许多生态和保护项目的基础，但只有几个分类群可用。相比之下，分发记录(地理参考存在记录)更广泛地可用。在这里，我们考察了在大空间尺度上整理的分布记录数量的年际变化是否可以提供物种种群变异性的衡量标准，从而作为丰度变化的衡量标准。我们使用了从1976年到2012年的分布和丰度数据(样带计数)，使用33种英国蝴蝶来测试这种可能性。跨物种比较，我们发现分布记录总数的平均年际变化与丰度的年际变化之间存在很强的相关性(N=33种；r(2)=0.66)。这表明，年度分布数据可以用来识别种群变异性低或高的物种。就个别物种而言，每年分布记录总数的变化与丰度之间的关系强度有相当大的差异。对于种群变化最大的物种(即记录数量每年变化很大的物种)，可以从分布记录中最准确地确定物种丰度的年间变化。我们的结论是，分布记录的年际变化可以指示分类群内的总体种群变异性，并且可以合理地替代某些类型物种丰度的年际变化。这一发现打开了更多的机会，以丰富的公民科学分布记录为基础，向生态和保护研究提供关于种群变异性的信息，这些记录可用于其他分类群。
Abundance data are the foundation for many ecological and conservation projects, but are only available for a few taxonomic groups. In contrast, distribution records (georeferenced presence records) are more widely available. Here we examine whether year-to-year changes in numbers of distribution records, collated over a large spatial scale, can provide a measure of species' population variability, and hence act as a metric of abundance changes. We used 33 British butterfly species to test this possibility, using distribution and abundance data (transect counts) from 1976 to 2012. Comparing across species, we found a strong correlation between mean year-to-year changes in total number of distribution records and mean year-to-year changes in abundance (N=33 species; r(2)=0.66). This suggests that annual distribution data can be used to identify species with low versus high population variability. For individual species, there was considerable variation in the strength of relationships between year-to-year changes in total number of distribution records and abundance. Between-year changes in abundance can be identified from distribution records most accurately for species whose populations are most variable (i.e. have high annual variation in numbers of records). We conclude that year-to-year changes in distribution records can indicate overall population variability within a taxon, and are a reasonable proxy for year-to-year changes in abundance for some types of species. This finding opens up more opportunities to inform ecological and conservation studies about population variability, based on the wealth of citizen science distribution records that are available for other taxa.