Exploring Changes in Biodiversity Through Pictures: A Citizen Science Experience |
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| Authors: | Eduardo Dopico Alba Ardura Eva Garcia-Vazquez |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Educational Science, University of Oviedo, Oviedo, Spain;2. Laboratoire d’Excellence Corail, University of Perpignan, Perpignan, France;3. Department of Functional Biology, University of Oviedo, Oviedo, Spain |
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| Abstract: | To accurately document the accelerated changes in biodiversity, scientists need an accurate historic baseline to which to compare the current state of a locale. These historic baselines are hard to come by, and specifically in the coastal principality of Asturias (northern Spain), biodiversity information before 1980 is scarce, fragmented, or entirely lacking. However, most families still keep old photographs, and we wondered if these historic documentations of the environment could provide missing baseline biodiversity data. We conducted a case study asking volunteers to find old family photographs, then return to the same place to retake the photograph from the same perspective. We compiled these photographs and analyzed the changes in biodiversity indices between the past and present. Thus, we quantified diversity changes in the region over the last century. |
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| Keywords: | Biodiversity indices citizen science environmental changes family photographs landscape transformation |
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