CITIZEN scientists” could help experts produce more accurate data on the global “biodiversity crisis”, it is claimed.
The call comes in a new paper challenging data collected in a key publication.
The Living Planet Index (LPI) was launched 20 years ago to document trends in the proliferation of species around the world.
According to the latest paper, published last year, species populations of vertebrate animals fell by almost 60 per cent between 1970 and 2012, with habitat loss and degradation to blame. The rate of loss is said to be unprecedented and the index predicts numbers will have fallen by two-thirds on 1970s levels by 2020.
However, Professor Steve Buckland of St Andrews University and Dr Alison Johnston of New York’s Cornell University claim statistics in this and the separate UK priority species indicator may present a misleading picture of the state of the natural world.
In a paper published in the Biological Conservation journal, Buckland said: “The world is currently in the middle of a biodiversity crisis, with substantial reductions in biodiversity in many regions. To understand the changes in biodiversity and develop conservation programmes that will be suitable to mitigate or reverse the losses, it is critical to have good quality surveys that satisfy criteria to produce reliable trends in biodiversity.
“Many of the biodiversity indicators used globally fail to meet these criteria. Standards must be raised.”
The LPI findings are published every two years by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), which works with partners including the Zoological Society of London on the project.
Buckland and Johnston claim it is not representative of the world overall, with Europe and North America “heavily over-represented”. The “geographic imbalance” is said to make a “dramatic difference” to the results.
The paper claims “citizen science” could help provide more thorough data through the gathering of images of plants and animals for submission online.
Johnston said: “There are still many places and species for which we do not have good information on biodiversity.
“There are statistical tools that we can use to account for this missing data, but statistical methods can only take us so far. It is essential that we also assess the ways we collect data.”
She went on: “Environmental decisions rely on accurate information about the state of biodiversity. We should continue to collect high- quality data and create the best measures we can about the natural world.”
The call follows claims last year from conservation scientist Stuart Pimm of Duke University in North Carolina, who compared the LPI to putting data sets from around the world “in a blender”.
But launching last year’s report, WWF International director general Marco Lambertini said the evidence “has never been stronger”.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here