Recording impacts of invasive species through citizen science: a pilot study

在全球和英国，外来入侵物种持续增加，是生物多样性下降的主要驱动因素之一。为了促进管理和政策反应，对其影响的证据对于风险评估、预防措施和资源分配至关重要。然而，对于许多物种来说，影响的证据很少，而且没有用标准化的方案收集。该项目将采用一种新的方法，测试公民科学是否可以成功地用于记录入侵植物的影响。我们将与北威尔士野生动物信托基金协调的现有地方行动组织志愿者网络合作，培训并与威尔士各地的志愿者合作，测试三种不同的记录标准，两种现场标准和一种数字标准，这些标准将在智能手机应用程序中实施。我们将把重点放在项目中的三个案例研究物种上，但标准的设计将使其适应未来的其他物种。此外，在选定地点及参与者人数较少的情况下，我们将使用录音机收集鸟类在入侵和未入侵栖息地发生情况的数据。我们的结果将为公民科学家如何参与记录外来入侵物种的影响提供指导，从而有助于弥合入侵科学以及政策支持方面的一个重要差距。此外，记录外来物种影响的标准化协议将支持管理优先顺序、对未来可能的入侵物种进行地平线扫描，以及跨分类群和区域的入侵物种影响的比较分析。

Globally and in the UK, invasive alien species (IAS) continue to increase and are one of the main drivers of biodiversity decline. To facilitate management and policy responses, evidence of their impacts is crucial for risk assessment, prevention measures and resource allocation. However, evidence of impacts is scarce for many species and not collected with standardised protocols. This project will employ a novel approach by testing if citizen science could be successfully used for recording the impacts of invasive plants. In collaboration with an existing volunteer network of Local Action Groups coordinated by the North Wales Wildlife Trust we will train and work with volunteers across Wales to test three different kinds of recording standards, two field standards and one digital standard which will be implemented in a smartphone application. We will focus on three case study species in the project, but standards will be designed to be adaptable to other species in the future. In addition, in selected sites and with a smaller group of participants, we will use audio recorders to collect data on the occurrence of birds in invaded and non-invaded habitats. Our results will provide guidance on how citizen scientists can be involved in recording impacts of invasive alien species therefore helping to close an important gap both in invasion science as well as for policy support. Furthermore, the standardised protocols for recording impacts of alien species will support management prioritisation, horizon scanning for possible future invasive species and comparative analyses of invasive species impacts across taxa and regions.