Citizen
science data offers novel comparison of flora and fauna
between metropolitan
areas
Date: April 30, 2019
Source: California Academy of
Sciences
Scientists
are analyzing a rare snapshot in time of urban plants and
animals. To better
understand whether rapidly growing cities are hosting the same
species, a
concept known as urban homogenization, a team from the
California Academy of
Sciences analyzed an immense volume of data gathered by
citizen scientists
during the four-day global City Nature Challenge. The 14 U.S.
cities included
in the study amassed more than 65,0000 wildlife observations
identified to
species level through the mobile app iNaturalist. Study
findings suggest that
despite similarities across cities, urban biodiversity still
strongly reflects
the species that are native to a region. However, observations
of shared
"cosmopolitan" species like pigeons, white-tailed deer, and
dandelions were more numerous than locally occurring species.
The study,
published today in the journal PeerJ: Life & Environment,
highlights
the value of citizen science data in addressing complex
questions about rapid
changes in urban ecology.
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