Anyone can send in records!

But who wants them?

Dr Linda Davies

Imperial College London

l.davies@imperial.ac.uk

Making environmental monitoring more accessible

1. Background

2. OPAL programme

3. A case study: British Lichen Society

4. Widening participation in environmental monitoring

5. Challenges

6. Next steps

Concept

‘It is not only scientists and government

that should be involved in monitoring but

the wider community, particularly young people.’

K. Mellanby (Editor) Environmental Pollution (1974)

Background: Environment

“Growth which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future

generations to meet their own needs.”

Earth Summit, Rio (1992), Rio+20 (2012) Agenda 21 – Action plan for sustainable development Convention on Climate Change Convention on Biological Diversity + protocols

Our responsibilities ‘Governments alone cannot resolve the problems.’ ‘Everyone has a part to play.’ ‘Think global, act local.’

Survey and document the extent of biodiversity on their own territories;

Promote conservation and sustainable use of land, air and water;

Improve education and public awareness about the value of biodiversity.

Background: People

• Contact with nature is important for good physical and mental

health

(Pretty et al 2005, 2007, 2009 ; Dillon, 2011, Dickie, Ozdemiroglu & Phang, 2011; WCMC, 2012)

• Contact with nature is important for childhood development

(Thomas & Thompson 2004; Louv, 2006;

England Marketing 2009;Natural England, 2011;

National Trust, 2012)

“If you lose your interest in the natural world you’ve lost a very

precious possession and something which could give you great pleasure

for the rest of your life.” (Sir David Attenborough, 2012)

“As children become disconnected from the natural world they

understand it less.” (Bird, 2007)

OPAL Objectives

1. Get more people outside exploring and recording the world around them;

2. Develop an innovative environmental education programme;

3. Inspire a new generation;

4. Strengthen collaboration between the statutory, voluntary and community sectors;

5. Gain a greater understanding of the state of the natural environment.

National Centres Soil: ImperialAir: ImperialWater: University College LondonClimate: UK Meteorological Office

Biodiversity: Natural History Museum (Taxonomy)Open University (iSPOT)

Associates: Environment Agency, Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)

Support ServicesNatural History Museum Portal/database/mediaField Studies CouncilSchools/field packsNational Biodiversity NetworkRecording softwareRoyal Parks

Newcastle University

University of Nottingham

University of York

University of Hertfordshire

Imperial College London

Imperial College London (Silwood Park)

University of Plymouth

University of Central Lancashire

University of Birmingham

OPAL Natural History Societies Small Grants (NHM)

• NHM Consultation - 800+ organisations contacted• 19% responded 81% did not

What did they need?• 86% want more members• More training in whole organism biology• Help with recording, validation of records and uploading data to the NBN• Good websites and apps• Organised programme of events to bring societies together with each

other and with the public • A national body to represent societies • Regular sources of funding for societies • Education: taxonomy and fieldwork in schools and universities

• 96 small grants totalling £219,498.00• Nature Groups Near You – 2013• Taxonomy resources, publicity and events

Case study: British Lichen Society

British Lichen Society founded in 1958

25 founder members – several still active in the Society

Council & Board of Trustees

Committees: Membership, Data, Conservation, Education & Promotions, Finance.

Current membership >650 (50% overseas)

Objectives:• to promote and advance the teaching and study of lichens;• to raise public awareness of the beauty of lichens and of their

importance as indicators of the health of our environment;• to encourage and actively support the conservation of lichens and their

habitats.

British Lichen Society: Data

1958 Lists were first combined and published through the Society

1963 First formal recording scheme (pre1960/post 1960)• Mapping cards• Mapping of data• Fascicles published and sold• Data now available on NBN • Encouraged recorders to visit areas where data was scarce

1990s BLS Database – Biobase

2000s Recorder 2002 – Recorder 6 (current)

2003 Scottish records digitised

2009/12 England & Wales data digitised

2012 1.2 million lichen records available through NBN

2012 0.5m records from the mapping scheme shared through NBN

2,383 species, varieties and forms

2012 Available through GBIF – 34,000 Xanthoria parietina 23,000 from UK

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

British Lichen Society: Data

• Costs and data sharing• Data quality: huge effort with data validation

• Rare and scarce species go through ‘expert review’• Duplicate records have been removed• Grid reference errors - 6% new records still incorrect• NBN Data cleaner

• Recording bias: Traprain Law,Scotland: • Brian Coppins -168,676 records• Francis Rose – 126,758 records• Chris Hitch – 73,446 records• Peter James – 61,681 records

• 50% of 1.2m records from six recorders• 99% of records from 30 active recorders• BLS uses a paper-based recording system

Location Grid ref VC checked? Recorders Date(s) Altitude Site and visit comments BLS no. Species

British Lichen Society & OPAL Survey

• Research questions • Design of the OPAL National Survey on Air & Lichens• Testing with members and the public• Training programme

• Video• Powerpoint on lichens • Training days across England

• Instant feedback system – what does your data mean?• Educational pathway: resources for primary schools, teachers etc.• Promotion of OPAL programme through radio broadcasts and

interviews• Events: Specimens, equipment and enthusiasm

Air & Lichen Survey

NITROGENSENSITIVELICHENS

+1

INTERMEDIATELICHENS

0

NITROGENTOLERANTLICHENS

-1

Pollution score automatically calculated when data is entered into the OPAL database

Social questions, location informationActivity: record lichens and invertebrates on 2-4 trees Tree girth and tree speciesLichens: abundance score on trunk and twigsInvertebrates identified to broad groupsTar spot on sycamore Online results map

BLS: Engaging the public

• 20,000 packs to schools & 20,000 through regional network • Lichenologist assigned to every community scientist • Focus on hard-to-reach areas• Schools – expert help to students involved in projects initiated by OPAL• Royal Society Summer Exhibition 2012• One day training courses for beginners at field centres across England

part funded by OPAL and part by BLS• BLS funded Next Steps - a new BLS course to build knowledge

from the initial 9 lichens to include another 20.• Improvements to the membership form to

encourage newcomers• On going support for all OPAL initiatives

Engaging the public

Impact of OPAL Surveys

3,700 responses to online questionnaire on completion of air survey 50% of survey participants could not identify a lichen 75% would recommend OPAL to friends

87% have learnt new skills92% have learnt something new

600 responses to detailed online survey (all surveys)84% are likely to do another survey45% think differently about the environment40% are likely to join an environmental group or society37% would change their behaviour towards the environment

• Fun is the word most often used to describe OPAL• Taking part in research was a key motivating

factor• Teachers more confident about fieldwork• Evidence of improvements to health• Evidence of improved community cohesion

OPAL Data – who wants public records?

• Lichen records from over 4,000 sites • Surveys submitted vs completed estimated at 1:5 • Data

• Participants do not like entering data!!!• >50% of data are from school children• Confidence in species identification is low but

• 95% correctly identified Xanthoria parietina in field validation exercise• majority of errors within one of the three classes thus not affecting main

conclusions

• Analysis to be completed early 2013• OPAL Soil survey data fully analysed

• Public data broadly followed existing data (BGS,EA)• Species level validation 60-70% correct

• Analysis identified interesting trends confirmed by targeted fieldwork• Provided data from sites not previously surveyed• Raised awareness of the importance of soil and soil research Series of publications

Data quality – what can we do to minimise error

1. Help with identification

2. Help with recording

3. Use of photography

4. Rank expertise

5. Use numerical data

6. Online validation

7. Field validation

8. Source / metadata

iSPOT: Social network for species identification from photographs submitted online • 900,000 visitors+ to the website• 17,000 registered users• 100,000 photographs• 88% photographs identified within 24hours• 86 natural history societies• Photographic records passed on to Societies• Bayesian Keys - NBN mapping scheme

Indicia: Basic kit to build a wildlife recording website• 500,000+ users from Plantlife to British Dragonfly Society

– UK & EU wide

Consortium for the Barcode of Life (CBOL)• to promote the exploration and development of DNA barcoding as a global standard for

species identification

New Technology – Identification, recording, location

Summary: local knowledge is important

1. Exploring outdoors is fun and important for our well-being2. All sectors of society should and can be involved in monitoring3. All aspects of the environment can be monitored: water, biodiversity, climate4. Contributing data makes people feel valuable5. We need to maximise the value of the information recorded by the public:

Survey designNew technologyData controlsValidation systemsMetadata Reputation management

6. Data storage7. Data accessibility and usability (mapping)8. Data analysis, interpretation and application in conservation9. Feedback to data providers essential10. Support expertise in natural history societies and groups

OPAL Earthworm Records on NBN

OPAL

OPAL Community Report published January 2013

7th National Survey May 2013

Tree Health – pests and diseases

OPAL charity

European NGO for lay knowledge

Working in partnership with similar developments in the USA

Acknowledgements

British Lichen Society: Janet SimpkinsBarbara HiltonPat Wolseley

Big Lottery Fund

OPAL Partnership - NBN

Natural History Societies