Tanja Petersen: Uncovering biases in Citizen Science data

Photo © Andreas Frisch In this Q&A, we ask author Tanja Petersen about her team’s research on the GBIF database, and find out a little bit more about the author herself. This article is part of the BES cross-journal special feature on Citizen Science. The research What’s your article about? The article is about skews and biases in GBIF data. Specifically, how the origin of … Continue reading Tanja Petersen: Uncovering biases in Citizen Science data

ESE Editor’s Choice 1:2 – An ethical framework for using camera traps in the field

How should you react if you unintentionally capture illegal activity in photos from a wildlife camera trap? Associate Editor Dave Augeri introduces our latest Editor’s Choice article by Sharma et al. which addresses the ethics of using camera traps in wildlife research. Ethical principles are so fundamental to our work in conservation science that we often take it for granted. However, while we may naturally … Continue reading ESE Editor’s Choice 1:2 – An ethical framework for using camera traps in the field

Can ‘Citizen Scientists’ play a valid role in conservation management?

The emergence of citizen science in biodiversity monitoring has transformed the methods by which biodiversity surveys can be conducted. With the recent development of automatic visual identification tools, Pierre Bonnet and colleagues present two distinct case studies implementing citizen science and the use of Pl@ntNet, an automatic plant identification platform. This article is part of the BES cross-journal special feature on Citizen Science. Effective monitoring … Continue reading Can ‘Citizen Scientists’ play a valid role in conservation management?

Targeting survey and monitoring efforts on roads could help us better understand population changes in introduced carnivores

Carnivores usually occur over large areas in low numbers, which sometimes makes them difficult to find. In their recently published article, Hayley Geyle and colleagues assessed the effectiveness of different camera trap survey designs for detecting feral cats and red foxes, and looked at how this influenced their ability to determine whether populations had changed in response to control through time. Introduced carnivores in Australia … Continue reading Targeting survey and monitoring efforts on roads could help us better understand population changes in introduced carnivores

Camera traps reveal hidden treasures of the rainforest

In their new research, Mattia Bessone and colleagues demonstrate how camera trap distance sampling can be used to develop conservation strategies and protect threatened species. The impact humans are exerting on the planet is accelerating the loss of biodiversity, with animal species disappearing at such unprecedented rate that scientists have labelled the current era ‘Earth’s sixth mass extinction’. To preserve the remnants of wildlife we … Continue reading Camera traps reveal hidden treasures of the rainforest

Fishing for mammals: using environmental DNA from rivers to monitor mammals on land

New research by Sales and colleagues looks at the monitoring of terrestrial mammal communities and compares the efficacy of landscape-level monitoring using environmental DNA (eDNA) to that of conventional methods. Here the authors summarise their findings. Accurately and effectively monitoring biodiversity is a key consideration in this rapidly changing world. Consistent and regular monitoring of species communities is pivotal for ongoing management, conservation and policy … Continue reading Fishing for mammals: using environmental DNA from rivers to monitor mammals on land