Discovering and developing primary biodiversity data from social networking sites: A novel approach

This paper explores a novel source of photo-vouchered biodiversity occurrence data, in the form of records associated with photos posted on social networking sites (SNSs), which offer a rich new source of biodiversity data.

Abstract

Detailed, authoritative Digital Accessible Knowledge (DAK) about biodiversity is crucial to any biodiversity informatics or conservation project. In most developing nations, significant DAK gaps exist both geographically and taxonomically. This paper explores a novel source of photo-vouchered biodiversity occurrence data, in the form of records associated with photos posted on social networking sites (SNSs). SNSs like Flickr, Facebook, and Picasaweb allow naturalists to share images and associated metadata with other users. I explore the idea of discovering and organizing massive numbers of biodiversity occurrence records now available on SNSs. I present a proof-of-concept with Flickr as the SNS and the Snowy Owl (Bubo scandiacus) and the Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus) as target species, but methods presented here can easily be used for any other SNS, region, or species group, particularly for developing, mega-diverse countries where the need for biodiversity DAK is particularly acute. These approaches are broadly applicable to animal and plant groups that are photographed and that can be identified from photographs with some degree of confidence (e.g., birds, butterflies, cetaceans, orchids, dragonflies, amphibians, plants), and thus offer a rich new source of biodiversity data.