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Davis_Ancilleno_OhioLINK_12_13_18.pdf (3.31 MB)

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Changing Perspectives on Citizen Science Using eBird Data on Grand Bahama Island, The Bahamas.

Davis, Ancilleno Orlando
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8430-8680
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1544646631610586

Abstract Details

2018, Doctor of Philosophy, Miami University, Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology.
Citizen science has broadened the scope of biodiversity monitoring and research. Citizen scientists visit more locations, more often and collect data on more species than any single study can. They have fewer restrictions related to funding, scheduling and political will. They create more data than ever before, especially in remote locations such as Small Island Developing States (SIDS). However, citizen science uses traditional science perspectives in data analysis; acknowledging the perspectives of the citizen scientist is important when making conservation decisions based on citizen science data. I use novel perspectives that make citizen science data more useful/powerful. I focus on 16 native bird species and 20 migrant species of international concern using volunteer observations from the open access eBird database. Using forestry maps and satellite data, I created a new, adaptable, classified habitat map for Grand Bahama and appended the habitat data to eBird observations for the island. Observer effort was significantly higher in beach and grass habitats. I found most of the focal species in this study outside their documented habitat type. Bird species richness and observer richness differed significantly among habitat types. Bird species composition was significantly influenced by habitat type and survey effort. Mantel tests showed significant correlation between geographic locations and both bird species dissimilarity and observer dissimilarity. The Mantel tests also showed significant correlations between observer community differences and species community differences. I used Moran’s I to determine spatial autocorrelation of observer effort and recorded species diversity within the dataset. Observer richness and the total number of surveys were negatively spatially autocorrelated in the overall dataset. I found that observer community similarity showed significant effects on recorded survey effort and species diversity in most habitats.
Robert Cummins (Advisor)
James Oris (Advisor)
David Russell (Committee Member)
Mary Henry (Committee Member)
Thomas Crist (Committee Member)
Jing Zhang (Committee Member)
101 p.
Animals; Biology; Statistics; Wildlife Conservation; Wildlife Management; Zoology
eBird; Ornithology; birds; Bahamas; citizen science

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Davis, A. O. (2018). Changing Perspectives on Citizen Science Using eBird Data on Grand Bahama Island, The Bahamas. [Doctoral dissertation, Miami University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1544646631610586

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Davis, Ancilleno. Changing Perspectives on Citizen Science Using eBird Data on Grand Bahama Island, The Bahamas. 2018. Miami University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1544646631610586.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Davis, Ancilleno. "Changing Perspectives on Citizen Science Using eBird Data on Grand Bahama Island, The Bahamas." Doctoral dissertation, Miami University, 2018. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1544646631610586

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

miami1544646631610586
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© 2018, some rights reserved.Creative Commons License Changing Perspectives on Citizen Science Using eBird Data on Grand Bahama Island, The Bahamas. by Ancilleno Orlando Davis is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at etd.ohiolink.edu.
This open access ETD is published by Miami University and OhioLINK.