248 Hamilton et al.: Volunteer-Derived Data for a Tree Mapping Application Arboriculture & Urban Forestry 2018. 44(6):248–254 Accuracy of Volunteer-Derived Data from a Single- Day Inventory Event Built Around a Crowdsourced Tree Mapping Application Keir Hamilton, Andrew K. Koeser, and Shawn M. Landry Abstract. Freely available ecosystem service models, like those incorporated in the i-Tree suite of tools, have helped scientists and prac- titioners estimate the environmental functions and economic benefits associated with their urban forest. Traditionally, professional inventory crews have been used to collect the inventory data needed for these models, but several cities have established crowdsourcing platforms to allow volunteers to map and inventory trees. Students in this study hosted and participated in an Arbor Day inventory collection event, using a newly released crowdsourcing application for mapping trees and estimating ecosystem services. The stu- dents located, identified, and measured trees on the University of South Florida campus (Tampa, Florida, U.S.) aſter a brief training session. Aſter the one-day event, a more rigorously-trained field crew attempted to relocate the inventoried trees to assess the accu- racy and variability of the data collected. Of the 339 trees inventoried at the original event, only 57.8% (n = 196) had coordinates that were accurate enough to re-measure. Of the 196 re-measured trees, 91.3% (n = 179) were correctly identified. However, only 47.9% (n = 91) of trees had dbh measurements within a one inch (2.5 cm) threshold for accuracy. Results of this experiment offer insights for communities looking to host special inventorying events to increase participation in crowdsourcing tree inventory initiatives. Key Words. Citizen Science; Crowdsourced Data; Data Accuracy; Data Quality; Ecosystem Services; Florida; Tree Inventory; Urban Forestry. Citizen scientist crowdsourcing events have evolved as a viable method for conducting ecological sur- veys (Kosmala et al. 2016; Ratnieks et al. 2016). These events allow trained volunteers, or even the general public, to participate in the scientific pro- cess where they collect and archive data that can be used to answer questions the participants feel are important or interesting. With the prolifera- tion of smartphones and alternative communica- tion devices, many data-collection initiatives have benefited from the use of mobile or internet-based applications, such as Noise Tube, an intiative that crowdsources audio from urban communities to document noise pollution (Noise Tube 2018). Once submitted, data entered via these applica- tions are uploaded to a project database. Oſten, some or all of the data are open-access, empower- ing communities to ask their research questions or otherwise draw on data for their management and education efforts, as with Globe at Night, an inter- ©2018 International Society of Arboriculture national campaign used to center public aware- ness around light pollution (Globe at Night 2015). Citizen science can be used to monitor abiotic (i.e., sound, lumens, water) and biotic (i.e., flora, fauna) components of ecological systems, promote environmental stewardship, and influence gov- ernment agencies (Roelfsema et al. 2016). While citizen science has received greater attention in recent years, it is not an altogether new practice. In 1900, Frank Chapman, an ornithological pio- neer, developed a crowdsourcing event named the Christmas Bird Count, which was later managed by the National Audubon Society (Dickinson et al. 2010). Chapman’s study evolved into a large- scale atlas that paved the way for contemporary citizen science projects and stands, historically, as the oldest, most widespread civic engagement inventory (Tulloch et al. 2013). Today, volunteer- derived data have been used to study and manage a broad range of plant and animal taxa (Kosmala
November 2018
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