Citizen science: from detecting pollution to evaluating ecological restoration

Abstract

The proliferation of citizen science water quality monitoring networks suggests there is potential for developing an equivalent river Restoration Assessment Initiative ( RAI ). This is currently lacking, especially at larger (e.g., national and international) scales. As such, the RAI would provide a much‐needed new tool for stakeholders to evaluate and compare the efficacy of their restoration efforts. We propose a standardized protocol to quantify biotic responses (e.g., changes to the macroinvertebrate community) to restoration efforts, which would facilitate a large‐scale, open‐access database revealing success or failure of commonly used restoration techniques. By combining biotic and abiotic (e.g., habitat and water quality) assessments, a feature typically lacking from restoration monitoring schemes and cited as a major constraint limiting development of the field, integrative approaches (e.g., meta‐analyses and coordinated field experiments) could help untangle their respective effects on restoration outcomes. Water quality initiatives (e.g., the Riverfly Monitoring Initiative) have paved the way for volunteer‐driven pollution monitoring, and provide models designed for sustaining long‐lasting volunteer participation in stream monitoring. These could be developed for the RAI to better detect restoration signals (e.g., adopt a before‐after‐control‐impact ( BACI ) approach) while continuing to address the key practical challenges associated with implementing citizen science initiatives (e.g., volunteer skills and data quality assurance). Once established, the resultant infrastructure would facilitate expansion to an international scale, increasing the statistical power of the combined database enormously and allowing the addition of novel measures (e.g., ecosystem process rates) for assessing restoration. Clearly citizen scientists need a role in restoration assessment, especially as they are becoming increasingly important drivers of practices on the ground. Developing a coordinated citizen science RAI to ensure data are standardized and disseminated effectively will advance restoration on a more global scale, and also provides a timely solution to keep society and science connected. WIREs Water 2016, 3:287–300. doi: 10.1002/wat2.1138 This article is categorized under: Water and Life > Conservation, Management, and Awareness Human Water > Water Governance Science of Water > Water Quality