Fossil Atmospheres: a case study of citizen science in question-driven palaeontological research
Fossil Atmospheres: a case study of citizen science in question-driven palaeontological research
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DOI：
10.1098/rstb.2017.0388
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发表时间：
2019-01-07
影响因子：
6.3
通讯作者：
Wing, Scott L.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Soul, Laura C.;Barclay, Richard S.;Wing, Scott L.
古生物学家越来越多地使用从博物馆标本中收集的大型观察数据集来解决有关地质时间尺度上的进化和生态学的广泛问题。其中一个问题是来自化石生物的信息是否可以用作随时间变化的大气二氧化碳的可靠代理。在这里，我们介绍“化石大气”的公民科学分支，该项目旨在通过让公民科学家通过 Zooniverse 网站收集数据来细化银杏叶的气孔指数作为古二氧化碳代理。公民科学帮助克服了银杏样本细胞计数所需时间带来的障碍；然而，随之而来的是一系列新的挑战。与 Zooniverse 志愿者一起进行的 Beta 测试阶段提供了改进说明以确保数据高保真度的机会。对公民科学家估计的探索表明，志愿者的气孔计数相对于该项目首席科学家的计数是准确的。然而，表皮细胞的计数范围很广，平均值往往会低估专家的计数。我们展示了多种方法来减少这种变化导致的计算气孔指数的不准确性。 Zooniverse 是收集古生物学数据的理想工具，其中化石的分布是不可能的，但可以轻松地对标本进行成像。这种方法有助于收集大型古生物学数据集，并为公民参与气候研究提供机会。本文是主题“用于了解人类世生物多样性的生物收藏”的一部分。
Palaeontologists increasingly use large datasets of observations collected from museum specimens to address broad-scale questions about evolution and ecology on geological timescales. One such question is whether information from fossil organisms can be used as a robust proxy for atmospheric carbon dioxide through time. Here, we present the citizen science branch of 'Fossil Atmospheres', a project designed to refine stomatal index of Ginkgo leaves as a palaeo-CO2 proxy by involving citizen scientists in data collection through the Zooniverse website. Citizen science helped to overcome a barrier presented by the time taken to count cells in Ginkgo samples; however, a new set of challenges arose as a result. A beta-testing phase with Zooniverse volunteers provided an opportunity to improve instructions to ensure high fidelity data. Exploration of citizen scientists' estimates shows that volunteer counts of stomata are accurate with respect to counts made by the project's lead scientist. However, counts of epidermal cells have a wide range, and mean values tend to underestimate expert counts. We demonstrate a variety of approaches to reducing the inaccuracy in the calculated stomatal index that this variation causes. Zooniverse serves as an ideal tool for collection of palaeontological data where the distribution of fossils would be impossible, but where specimens can be easily imaged. Such an approach facilitates the collection of a large palaeontological dataset, as well as providing an opportunity for citizens to engage with climate research.This article is part of the theme issue 'Biological collections for understanding biodiversity in the Anthropocene'.