Mapping species distributions: a comparison of skilled naturalist and lay citizen science recording.
To assess the ability of traditional biological recording schemes and lay citizen science approaches to gather data on species distributions and changes therein, we examined bumblebee records from the UK's national repository (National Biodiversity Network) and from BeeWatch. The two recording approaches revealed similar relative abundances of bumblebee species but different geographical distributions. For the widespread common carder (Bombus pascuorum), traditional recording scheme data were patchy, both spatially and temporally, reflecting active record centre rather than species distribution. Lay citizen science records displayed more extensive geographic coverage, reflecting human population density, thus offering better opportunities to account for recording effort. For the rapidly spreading tree bumblebee (Bombus hypnorum), both recording approaches revealed similar distributions due to a dedicated mapping project which overcame the patchy nature of naturalist records. We recommend, where possible, complementing skilled naturalist recording with lay citizen science programmes to obtain a nation-wide capability, and stress the need for timely uploading of data to the national repository.
Aberdeen Centre for Environmental Sustainability, School of Biological Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, AB24 3UU, UK. r.vanderwal@abdn.ac.uk.
René
R
van der Wal
School of Biological Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, AB24 3UU, UK. helen.anderson@uit.no.|Department of Arctic and Marine Biology, Faculty of Biosciences, Fisheries and Economics, University of Tromsø, 9037, Tromsø, Norway. helen.anderson@uit.no.
Helen
H
Anderson
School of Biological Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, AB24 3UU, UK. annierobinson@abdn.ac.uk.
Annie
A
Robinson
dot.rural Digital Economy Hub, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, AB24 5UA, UK. n.sharma@abdn.ac.uk.
Nirwan
N
Sharma
Computing Science, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, AB24 3UE, UK. c.mellish@abdn.ac.uk.
Chris
C
Mellish
Bees, Wasps and Ants Recording Society, 1 Waterloo Road, Salisbury, Wiltshire, SP1 2JR, UK. stuart.roberts@cantab.net.
Stuart
S
Roberts
Bumblebee Conservation Trust, Beta Centre, Stirling University Innovation Park, Stirling, FK9 4NF, UK. ben.darvill@bto.org.|British Trust for Ornithology, University of Stirling, Stirling, FK9 4LA, UK. ben.darvill@bto.org.
Ben
B
Darvill
Computing Science, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, AB24 3UE, UK. advaith@abdn.ac.uk.
Advaith
A
Siddharthan
D063147:Animal Distribution; D000818:Animals; D001516:Bees / Q000502:physiology*; D044822:Biodiversity; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources / Q000379:methods*; D006113:United Kingdom
BeeWatch; Biological recording; Bumblebees; Citizen science; National Biodiversity Network; Species distribution