Citizen Science
Community and volunteer involvement is a key component of monitoring the status and health of our natural environment and these individuals and organizations have become an integral part of science-based conservation programs through the collection and documentation of data as well as contributing to public education and understanding. This section is intended to provide information how ordinary citizens can participate in various science projects.
Watersheds Canada has provided a handy manual of several citizen science projects in Ontario and I’ve borrowed heavily from it. The handout outlines general identification and monitoring programs, and species identification and monitoring programs for animals, insects, birds, invasive species, water quality, and weather.
Ontario Breeding Bird Atlas-3
Over a five year period beginning January 1, 2021 volunteers throughout Ontario will be gathering breeding evidence of the approximately 300 species of birds that are know to breed in Ontario using standardized methods. The data obtained will be crucial to help establish environmental and conservation policies for the next 20 years.
To learn more about the project and to register to be a volunteer to take part in the survey, click here
Fall Bird Roundup
For many years now during the first Saturday of November, the Thunder Bay Naturalists have been keeping track of late autumn birds in NW Ontario, the “Fall Roundup”. The Rainy River Valley Naturalists are joining in on the fun, although with a slight twist. Because our numbers are so few, we will be making this a week-long event, beginning Sunday November 1st and extending through Saturday November 7th.
To keep it simple, we are asking people just to keep a species list and not to worry about the numbers of birds seen. However, if you do wish to contribute to the NW Ontario count, then please keep a separate tally for the actual day of the count. But otherwise, a simple list will do. It is not necessary to watch for birds every day; a few minutes watching from your window is fine, but we certainly will not stop you from spending your entire day looking for birds!
If you have trouble identifying a particular bird, send us a photo and we’ll see if we can make heads or tails of it. Also, if you happen to take a photo you especially like and think others would like to see, please send those along, as well, and we’ll try to post some of those on the website.
We are planning on making this an annual event. So, head out and have fun! Hopefully, you will take part. You can send your results to us either by means of our Contact form on our website or directly to me at rrvfn1@gmail.com.
Canadian Bat Box Project
Bats in Canada face multiple threats from habitat loss and disease. As towns and cities expand, the large old trees that bats call home are being cleared, and bats are losing their roosts. Bats need a warm and secure place to roost during the day in the summer. A bat box is a simple and effective way to provide additional roosting habitat for bats, but little is known about bat box use in Canada. This especially important as three bat species in Canada are listed as endangered: little brown bats, northern long-eared bats, and tricolored bats.
For further information how you can participate in this project (and see some cool photos of bats) click here.
General Identification and Monitoring Programs
Natural Heritage Information Centre (NHIC), Government of Ontario
The Centre manages data about the location of species of conservation concern (rare and at risk species), plant communities, wildlife concentration areas, and natural areas in Ontario. Observations related to these elements can be reported. When an observation record is sent to the Natural Heritage Information Centre, it is reviewed and entered into the provincial record. Many agencies and researchers use the provincial record to plan, protect and study Ontario’s natural heritage. On their website is a link to rare and at risk species in Ontario.
iNaturalist is a joint initiative by the California Academy of Sciences and the National Geographic Society. The site is for recording observations of individual living things, particularly things that can be tied to a species name. It is an online social network of people sharing biodiversity information to help each other learn about nature. It’s also a crowdsourced species identification system and an organism occurrence recording tool. Volunteers can use it to record their own observations, get help with identifications, collaborate with others to collect this kind of information for a common purpose, or access the observational data.
Great Lakes Marsh Monitoring Program, Bird Studies Canada
The program is designed to collect information about the presence and abundance of bird and amphibian species in Great Lakes coastal and inland marshes, to contribute to our understanding of these species and their habitat needs. The Great Lakes Marsh Monitoring Program is a bi-national, long-term monitoring program.
NatureWatch is a community that engages Canadians in collecting scientific information on nature to understand our changing environment. Information submitted to the NatureWatch programs is pooled with information submitted by other participants across Canada. It is used by researchers at several Canadian universities to improve scientific knowledge of changes in Canada’s biodiversity, climate, and the natural environment. Currently, NatureWatch hosts the following nature monitoring programs:
• FrogWatch: Learn about Canada’s favourite amphibians while helping researchers and zoos monitor the health of frogs population and frog habitat.
• Ice Watch: The dates when ice appears and disappears provide important information about patterns in Canada’s climate.
• MilkweedWatch: Milkweed is the primary food source for caterpillars of the monarch butterfly. Record locations and check from butterflies, caterpillars, eggs or chrysalises.
• PlantWatch: The blooming times of Canada’s most easily recognized plant species help scientists to track changing climate trends and their impacts.
• WormWatch: Earthworms are very sensitive to soil disturbance, so learning more about the distribution of earthworm species can be used to help improve soil health and reclaim degraded sites.
Specific Animal Identification and Monitoring Programs
eBird is the world’s largest biodiversity-related citizen science project, with more than 100 million bird sightings contributed each year by eBirders around the world. eBird data documents bird distribution, abundance, habitat use, and trends through checklist data collected within a simple, scientific framework. Birders enter when, where, and how they went birding, and then fill out a checklist of all the birds seen and heard during the outing.
• Christmas Bird Count: Volunteers conduct a one-day census of all birds seen and heard within a pre-defined area during the weeks before and after Christmas.
• Great Backyard Bird Count: A global bird count over four days in mid-February. Volunteers of all skill levels observe birds for a minimum of 15 minutes /day on one or more survey days and report all the birds they see. These counts provide a snapshot of where birds are across the globe in late winter.
• Project FeederWatch: A program where volunteers observe and record information, at regular intervals throughout the winter, about the birds that visit their feeders.
• Project NestWatch: Data are collected for nest record schemes in all provinces and territories in Canada. Volunteers find and carefully monitor nests throughout the breeding season, checking nests every few days to record their status. Information on single visits to nests is also useful.
• Canadian Lakes Loon Survey: Tracking Common Loon reproductive success by monitoring chick hatch and survival. Participants dedicate at least three dates, visiting their lake once in June (to see if loon pairs are present), once in July (to see if chicks hatch) and once in August (to see if chicks survived to fledge).
• Swifts and Swallows: Swallows, swifts, and nightjars are “aerial insectivores” – birds that specialize on eating flying insects. Over the last 40 years, aerial insectivores have undergone steeper declines than any other group of birds in Canada.
For all Birds Canada volunteer projects, CLICK on the ones listed below:
Canadian Migration Monitoring Network (CMMN)
Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBA)
Motus Wildlife Tracking System
The purpose is to collect, record and store location and species information on Ontario mussels, including species at risk. Use the Clam Counter freshwater identification and reporting app to report sightings. Information gathered through Clam Counter is shared with partner organizations such as Fisheries and Oceans Canada to determine the status of freshwater mussel populations and to supplement conservation programs and initiatives.
The purpose is to collect, record and store location and species information on Ontario turtles, including species at risk. A hard copy of the Ontario Turtle Tally Package is available along with online Turtles of Ontario guide to learn to identify turtles in the area. All data collected online is shared with the Natural Heritage Information Centre (NHIC) and the Ontario Reptile and Amphibian Atlas at Ontario Nature.
The program is asking for the participation of citizens to locate bat colonies and count the number of bats living in them to support bat conservation and monitoring.
Bumble Bee Watch is a collaborative effort to track and conserve North America’s bumble bees. This citizen science project allows for individuals to: Upload photos of bumble bees to start a virtual bumble bee collection; Identify the bumble bees in your photos and have your identifications verified by experts; Help researchers determine the status and conservation needs of bumble bees; Help locate rare or endangered populations of bumble bees.
Tracks migration events and provides an easy entry point to citizen science. Reported sightings are mapped in real-time as waves of migrations move across the continent. People report sightings from the field, view maps, take pictures, and leave comments.
A real-time, online checklist and photo storage program, e-Butterfly is providing a new way for the butterfly community to report, organize and access information about butterflies in North America. e-Butterfly provides rich data sources for basic information on abundance, distribution, and phenology across North America.
BAMONA (Butterflies and Moths of North America)
he Butterflies and Moths of North America (BAMONA) project is an ambitious effort to collect and provide access to quality-controlled data about butterflies and moths for the continent of North America from Panama to Canada. The goal is to fill the needs of scientists and nature observers by bringing verified occurrence and life history data into one accessible location.Citizen scientists of all ages and experience levels participate by taking photographs of butterflies and moths and then submitting their observations. Additional BAMONA data come from museum and personal collections, published literature, and professional lepidopterists. Quality control is provided by collaborating lepidopterists who serve as regional coordinators. Standardized data and metadata are stored in a database and accessible through the web site via checklists, species profiles, maps displaying point data, and other tools.
Invasive Species Monitoring Programs
EDDMapS (Early Detection and Distribution Mapping System)
EDDMapS documents the presence of invasive species, and encourages users to participate by providing Internet tools that maintain their personal records and enable them to visualize data with interactive maps. Users simply enter information from their observations into the standardized on-line data form, which allows specific information about the infestation and images to be added. Information entered is immediately loaded to the EDDMapS website for verification. Considerable information on invasive species in Ontario is on the website.
Water Quality Monitoring Programs
The Lake Partner Program is Ontario’s volunteer-based, water-quality monitoring program. The Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks coordinates this program from the Dorset Environmental Science Centre (DESC) in partnership with the Federation of Ontario Cottagers’ Associations. Each year, more than 600 volunteers monitor water quality in almost 550 inland lakes at over 800 sampling locations. Volunteers collect water samples and return them, postage paid, to DESC. All analyses are performed in the DESC Water Chemistry Laboratory. The resulting data are used by members of the public, partner agencies, government and academic researchers and private consultants to assess and report on water quality in lakes across Ontario. Total phosphorus, calcium and water clarity data are published each January on the provincial Lake Partner Program webpage.
Weather Monitoring Programs
CoCoRaHS Canada (Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network)
Each time a rain, hail, or snowstorm occurs, volunteers take measurements of precipitation from their registered locations (reports of ‘zero’ precipitation are encouraged too!). The reports are submitted to the website and are immediately available for viewing. The data are used by the National Weather Service, meteorologists, hydrologists, emergency managers, city utilities, insurance adjusters, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, engineers, mosquito control, ranchers and farmers, outdoor and recreation interests, teachers, students, and neighbors in the community.