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The benefits of contributing to the citizen science platform iNaturalist as an identifier

Callaghan CT 1 , Mesaglio T 2 , Ascher JS 3 , Brooks TM 4 , Cabras AA 5 , Chandler M 6 Show all authors , Cornwell WK 7 , Cristóbal Ríos-Málaver I 8 , Dankowicz E 9 , Urfi Dhiya'ulhaq N 10 , Fuller RA 11 , Galindo-Leal C 12 , Grattarola F 13 , Hewitt S 14 , Higgins L 15 , Hitchcock C 9 , James Hung KL 16 , Iwane T 17 , Kahumbu P 18 , Kendrick R 19 , Kieschnick SR 20 , Kunz G 21 , Lee CC 22 , Lin CT 23 , Loarie S 17 , Norman Medina M 5 , McGrouther MA 24 , Miles L 25 , Modi S 26 , Nowak K 27 , Oktaviani R 28 , Waswala Olewe BM 29 , Pagé J 30 , Petrovan S 31 , Saari C 32 , Seltzer CE 17 , Seregin AP 33 , Sullivan JJ 34 , Sumanapala AP 35 , Takoukam A 36 , Widness J 37 , Willmott K 8 , Wüster W 38 , Young AN 39

Affiliations 

  • 1 German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
  • 2 Centre for Ecosystem Science; School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences; UNSW Sydney; Sydney, Australia
  • 3 Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
  • 4 International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Gland, Switzerland
  • 5 Coleoptera Research Center, Institute of Biodiversity and Environment, University of Mindanao, Davao City, Philippines
  • 6 Earthwatch Institute, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
  • 7 Evolution & Ecology Research Centre; School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences; UNSW Sydney; Sydney, Australia
  • 8 McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity, Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America
  • 9 Biology Department; Brandeis University; Waltham, Massachusetts, United States of America
  • 10 Independent Researcher, Mlati, Sleman, DI Yogyakarta, Indonesia
  • 11 School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
  • 12 Comisión Nacional para el Conocimiento y Uso de la Biodiversidad: Ciudad de Mexico, Ciudad de México, Mexico
  • 13 Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Praha, Czech Republic
  • 14 Independent Researcher, New York, New York, United States of America
  • 15 Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, California, United States of America
  • 16 Oklahoma Biological Survey, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, United States of America
  • 17 iNaturalist, California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, California, United States of America
  • 18 Wildlife Direct, Nairobi, Kenya
  • 19 Director, C & R Wildlife, Tai Po, Hong Kong
  • 20 Urban Wildlife Biologist, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Dallas, Texas, United States of America
  • 21 Karl Franzens University of Graz, Universitätsplatz 2, Department of Biology, Graz, Austria
  • 22 Institute of Biodiversity and Environmental Conservation, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, Kota Samarahan, Sarawak, Malaysia
  • 23 Department of Biological Resources, National Chiayi University, Chiayi, Taiwan
  • 24 Senior Fellow, Australian Museum Research Institute, Australian Museum, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
  • 25 UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC), Cambridge, United Kingdom
  • 26 Coastal Conservation Foundation, Matunga West, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
  • 27 Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, Białowieża Geobotanical Station, Białowieża, Poland
  • 28 Yayasan Konservasi Ekosistem Alam Nusantara (KIARA), West Java, Indonesia
  • 29 Maasai Mara University, Narok, Kenya
  • 30 Canadian Wildlife Federation, Kanata, Ontario, Canada
  • 31 Conservation Science Group, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
  • 32 Chicago Park District, Chicago, Illinois, United States of America
  • 33 M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
  • 34 Department of Pest-Management and Conservation, Lincoln University, New Zealand
  • 35 Department of Zoology and Environment Sciences, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka
  • 36 African Marine Mammal Conservation Organization (AMMCO), Kassala-Beach, Dizangue, Littoral, Cameroon
  • 37 Yale University Department of Anthropology, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America
  • 38 Molecular Ecology and Fisheries Genetics Laboratory, School of Natural Sciences, Bangor University, Bangor, United Kingdom
  • 39 California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, California, United States of America
PLoS Biol, 2022 Nov;20(11):e3001843.
PMID: 36355752 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3001843

Abstract

As the number of observations submitted to the citizen science platform iNaturalist continues to grow, it is increasingly important that these observations can be identified to the finest taxonomic level, maximizing their value for biodiversity research. Here, we explore the benefits of acting as an identifier on iNaturalist.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

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