'citizen science' discoveries

[Martin Harvey]

Does anyone have any good examples of 'citizen science' or 'wider
public' type surveys having produced unexpected discoveries, or
contributed something new to research (as opposed to providing data to
support what was already known or believed)?

I can think of plenty of cases where non-specialist people (especially
photographers) have found rare species, and further examples of that
would be welcome, but I'm particularly looking for things that are
more unexpected, or have had a particular impact on research or
conservation.

I'm seeking this information for some talks and workshops I'm running
on biological recording in the coming months, but perhaps it would be
good to store some examples up on the NFBR website for future
reference as well?

Thanks,
Martin

[Alan Stewart]

Dear Martin

I can give you a further example of a non-specialist finding something good. Penny Frith is a freelance graphic designer (and part-time DJ!) who lives in Peckham. She is a keen photographer (not just of wildlife) and decided to visit her local park at least once every day, walking along the same hedge boundary, and photograph every species of insect she saw. Eventually she photographed something that was new to Britain, not realising what it was. It was spotted only when Tristan Bantock took the trouble to trawl through her Flickr site looking for records.

It's a very smart addition to the British list (Orientus ishidae):

http://www.ledra.co.uk/rec_news.html

I cannot think of any examples of new discoveries or contributions to research, but I will be on the look-out from now on.

Best wishes,
Alan

Dr Alan J A Stewart
School of Life Sciences
University of Sussex
Falmer
Brighton BN1 9QG
Tel: +44 (0)1273 877476
Email: a.j.a....@sussex.ac.uk

Thanks,
Martin

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[Martin Harvey]

Thanks for that Alan. Am I right in thinking that Orientus ishidae is
a potential vector of plant disease and therefore perhaps not an
entirely "good" find?! But nonetheless it does demonstrate well the
benefit of simple observation for recording a change in the
environment (or at least, simple observation combined with admirable
attention to detail on Tristan's part).

A research-related example is from the Open University's Evolution
Megalab project, results of which were published last April -
Silvertown et al. 2011:
http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0018927

From the discussion in this paper: "The comprehensive data collected
by volunteers in the Evolution MegaLab allowed us to apply a powerful
test of an evolutionary hypothesis linking climate change with
polymorphism in the banded snail. That hypothesis was clearly
rejected, but to our surprise, the study also produced another
unequivocal result, showing that banded morphs in general and Mid-
banded morphs in particular increased."

Martin

On Feb 10, 5:08 pm, Alan Stewart <a.j.a.stew...@sussex.ac.uk> wrote:
> Dear Martin
>
> I can give you a further example of a non-specialist finding something good. Penny Frith is a freelance graphic designer (and part-time DJ!) who lives in Peckham. She is a keen photographer (not just of wildlife) and decided to visit her local park at least once every day, walking along the same hedge boundary, and photograph every species of insect she saw. Eventually she photographed something that was new to Britain, not realising what it was. It was spotted only when Tristan Bantock took the trouble to trawl through her Flickr site looking for records.
>
> It's a very smart addition to the British list (Orientus ishidae):
>
> http://www.ledra.co.uk/rec_news.html
>
> I cannot think of any examples of new discoveries or contributions to research, but I will be on the look-out from now on.
>
> Best wishes,
> Alan
>
> Dr Alan J A Stewart
> School of Life Sciences
> University of Sussex
> Falmer
> Brighton  BN1 9QG
> Tel: +44 (0)1273 877476

> Email: a.j.a.stew...@sussex.ac.uk

> For more options, visit this group athttp://groups.google.com/group/nfbr-group?hl=en?hl=en
>
> NFBR website:http://www.nfbr.org.uk/wiki/index.php5?title=Main_Page

[Alan Stewart]

Yes, indeed. It seems to be a vector of the phytoplasma (Flavescence doree) that causes grapevine yellows diseases in the vineyards of southern Europe. I don't know whether it causes problems in other plants.

The Evolution Megalab is certainly a good example of what you are looking for. No doubt RSPB, BTO etc will have lots more examples.

Alan