(1) Department of Ecology, Evolution, & Natural Resources, School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA
Abstract:
Citizen science programs are touted as useful tools for engaging the public in science and for collecting important data for
scientists and resource managers. To accomplish the latter, it must be shown that data collected by volunteers is sufficiently
accurate and reliable. We engaged 119 volunteers over three years to map and estimate abundance of invasive plants in New
York and New Jersey parklands. We tested their accuracy via collected pressed samples and by subsampling their transect points.
We also compared the performances of volunteers and botanical experts. Our results support the notion that volunteer participation
can enhance the data generated by scientists alone. We found that the quality of data collected might be affected by the environment
in which the data are collected. We suggest that giving consideration to how people learn can not only help to achieve educational
goals but can also help to produce more data to be used in scientific study.