How Effective Are Citizen Scientists at Contributing to Government Tree Health Public Engagement and Surveillance Needs—An Analysis of the UK Open Air Laboratories (OPAL) Survey Model
The incidence of tree disease has been increasing in the UK in recent years as a result of a range of alien tree pests and pathogens new to the country. In the early 2010s government staff resources to monitor, identify and eradicate these pathogens were limited, so we tested the efficacy of “citize...
| Main Authors: | , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2020-08-01
|
| Series: | Insects |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/11/9/550 |
| _version_ | 1797557024561561600 |
|---|---|
| author | David D. Slawson Andy J. Moffat |
| author_facet | David D. Slawson Andy J. Moffat |
| author_sort | David D. Slawson |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The incidence of tree disease has been increasing in the UK in recent years as a result of a range of alien tree pests and pathogens new to the country. In the early 2010s government staff resources to monitor, identify and eradicate these pathogens were limited, so we tested the efficacy of “citizen scientists” to support these needs. The Open Air Laboratories (OPAL) is a successful citizen science programme launched in 2007, which at that time of launch involved over 650 thousand people in a range of environmental surveys. In 2012–2013, the Food and Environment Research Agency (Fera) and Forest Research staff worked with OPAL and its partners to launch a citizen science tree health survey in Great Britain and this was extended to cover Northern Ireland until it closed in 2019. Over 2800 surveys were completed including records on more than 4500 trees, the majority from urban areas. This paper discusses the results of the survey and their value for the assessment of tree health. It also considers the implications of engagement with the general public for the future of tree health surveillance. Recommendations are made for further development of the OPAL “model” and more generally for the role of citizen science in this important area. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T17:11:22Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-baaebacb95374ea0b63abf5fc78c0c9c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2075-4450 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T17:11:22Z |
| publishDate | 2020-08-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Insects |
| spelling | doaj.art-baaebacb95374ea0b63abf5fc78c0c9c2023-11-20T10:40:19ZengMDPI AGInsects2075-44502020-08-0111955010.3390/insects11090550How Effective Are Citizen Scientists at Contributing to Government Tree Health Public Engagement and Surveillance Needs—An Analysis of the UK Open Air Laboratories (OPAL) Survey ModelDavid D. Slawson0Andy J. Moffat1Centre for Environmental Policy, Imperial College London, London SW7 1NE, UKForest Research, Alice Holt, Farnham GU10 4LH, UKThe incidence of tree disease has been increasing in the UK in recent years as a result of a range of alien tree pests and pathogens new to the country. In the early 2010s government staff resources to monitor, identify and eradicate these pathogens were limited, so we tested the efficacy of “citizen scientists” to support these needs. The Open Air Laboratories (OPAL) is a successful citizen science programme launched in 2007, which at that time of launch involved over 650 thousand people in a range of environmental surveys. In 2012–2013, the Food and Environment Research Agency (Fera) and Forest Research staff worked with OPAL and its partners to launch a citizen science tree health survey in Great Britain and this was extended to cover Northern Ireland until it closed in 2019. Over 2800 surveys were completed including records on more than 4500 trees, the majority from urban areas. This paper discusses the results of the survey and their value for the assessment of tree health. It also considers the implications of engagement with the general public for the future of tree health surveillance. Recommendations are made for further development of the OPAL “model” and more generally for the role of citizen science in this important area.https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/11/9/550citizen sciencetree healthpests and diseasessurveysurveillancegovernment policy |
| spellingShingle | David D. Slawson Andy J. Moffat How Effective Are Citizen Scientists at Contributing to Government Tree Health Public Engagement and Surveillance Needs—An Analysis of the UK Open Air Laboratories (OPAL) Survey Model Insects citizen science tree health pests and diseases survey surveillance government policy |
| title | How Effective Are Citizen Scientists at Contributing to Government Tree Health Public Engagement and Surveillance Needs—An Analysis of the UK Open Air Laboratories (OPAL) Survey Model |
| title_full | How Effective Are Citizen Scientists at Contributing to Government Tree Health Public Engagement and Surveillance Needs—An Analysis of the UK Open Air Laboratories (OPAL) Survey Model |
| title_fullStr | How Effective Are Citizen Scientists at Contributing to Government Tree Health Public Engagement and Surveillance Needs—An Analysis of the UK Open Air Laboratories (OPAL) Survey Model |
| title_full_unstemmed | How Effective Are Citizen Scientists at Contributing to Government Tree Health Public Engagement and Surveillance Needs—An Analysis of the UK Open Air Laboratories (OPAL) Survey Model |
| title_short | How Effective Are Citizen Scientists at Contributing to Government Tree Health Public Engagement and Surveillance Needs—An Analysis of the UK Open Air Laboratories (OPAL) Survey Model |
| title_sort | how effective are citizen scientists at contributing to government tree health public engagement and surveillance needs an analysis of the uk open air laboratories opal survey model |
| topic | citizen science tree health pests and diseases survey surveillance government policy |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/11/9/550 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT daviddslawson howeffectivearecitizenscientistsatcontributingtogovernmenttreehealthpublicengagementandsurveillanceneedsananalysisoftheukopenairlaboratoriesopalsurveymodel AT andyjmoffat howeffectivearecitizenscientistsatcontributingtogovernmenttreehealthpublicengagementandsurveillanceneedsananalysisoftheukopenairlaboratoriesopalsurveymodel |