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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Dyve (talk | contribs) at 08:11, 27 December 2023 (References). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

  • Comment: Note for AfC reviewer: The author of this article is the co-founder of observation.org as indicated on their user page.Jeraxmoira (talk) 19:12, 25 December 2023 (UTC)

Observation.org
Type of site
Citizen science
Area servedWorldwide
URLobservation.org
CommercialNo
RegistrationOptional
Launched2004; 20 years ago (2004)
Current statusActive

Observation.org is a worldwide platform of naturalists, citizen scientists, and biologists to collect, validate and sharing biodiversity observations. Observation.org may be accessed via its website or from its mobile applications. The Observation.org database holds 233 million nature observations and 79 million photos.[1] It is published and hosted in the Netherlands under Dutch and European law by the non-profit foundation Observation International[2].

Quality assurance

Quality assurance measures on Observation.org is managed by established species experts responsible for curating the reference set of observations.[3] Automated validation, supported by artificial intelligence, uses this reference set to aid validators in managing the extensive dataset. However, human experts retain final authority in all validation matters.[4][5]

Open data

Map of Observation.org data on GBIF

The observations that have been approved are shared as open data on Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF).[6] The dataset comprises approximately 82 million occurrences, 19 million annotated photos[7] and 69,000 annotated sound recordings.[8] Observation.org is the third largest publisher of the world on GBIF.[9]

Use of Observation.org data

As of December 2023, more than 1,700 research results have been published that cite the Observation.org dataset on GBIF[10], often in the fields of ecology, conservation, climate change. This research includes for example the discovery of new species for a country [11][12][13], documentation of changes in behavior[14][15], monitoring invasive alien species[16][17][18][19], finding causes of local extinction [20] and tracking zoonoses such as Avian influenza[21]. Other examples are the integration of nature data into national research programmes[22] and European biodiversity projects[23][24]. The annotated Observation.org photos are used to train automatic species recognition models.[25][26]

Partners and users of Observation.org regularly participate in Bioblitzes to collaboratively collect nature observations. Examples of these Bioblitzes are the City Nature Challenge[27][28] and the Biomaratón de Otoño in Spain[29].

International names

In the Netherlands, Observation.org is primarily known as Waarneming.nl[30]. In the Dutch Caribbean, the name Observation.org is used[31]. In Belgium, the platform is primarily known as Waarnemingen.be[32] (Flanders) and Observations.be[33] (Wallonia).

References

  1. ^ "Statistics". Observation.org. Retrieved 2023-12-24.
  2. ^ "Observation International". observation-international.org. Retrieved 2023-12-25.
  3. ^ "Validation". Observation.org. Retrieved 2023-12-24.
  4. ^ Van Eupen, Camille; Maes, Dirk; Herremans, Marc; Swinnen, Kristijn R.R.; Somers, Ben; Luca, Stijn (2021-03-15). "The impact of data quality filtering of opportunistic citizen science data on species distribution model performance". Ecological Modelling. 444. doi:10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2021.109453.
  5. ^ "Biodiversitätsdaten, Citizen Science und Online-Erfassungssysteme" (PDF). ANLiegen Natur (in German). 43. Retrieved 2023-12-25.
  6. ^ "Observation.org". www.gbif.org. Retrieved 2023-12-24.
  7. ^ "Search occurrences -- Observation.org Image". www.gbif.org. Retrieved 2023-12-25.
  8. ^ "Search occurrences -- Observation.org Audio". www.gbif.org. Retrieved 2023-12-25.
  9. ^ "Search datasets". www.gbif.org. Retrieved 2023-12-24.
  10. ^ "Resources search -- Observation.org". www.gbif.org.
  11. ^ "Hittegolf bracht Afrikaanse oranje zonnewijzer naar België". www.natuurpunt.be (in Dutch). Retrieved 2023-12-25.
  12. ^ "Spoorkrekel duikt voor het eerst op in België". www.natuurpunt.be (in Dutch). Retrieved 2023-12-25.
  13. ^ "Twee nieuwe sprinkhanen in 2022: grote spitskop en spoorkrekel" (PDF). www.hetnatuurhistorisch.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 2023-12-25.
  14. ^ Herremans, Marc; Gielen, Karin; Van Kerckhoven, Jos; Vanormelingen, Pieter; Veraghtert, Wim; Swinnen, Kristijn R.R.; Maes, Dirk (2021-07-29). "Abundant Citizen Science Data Reveal That the Peacock Butterfly Aglais io Recently Became Bivoltine in Belgium". Insects. 12 (8): 683. doi:10.3390/insects12080683.
  15. ^ Cite error: The named reference red-rumped-swallows was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  16. ^ Johnson, Brian Alan; Mader, André Derek; Dasgupta, Rajarshi; Kumar, Pankaj (March 2020). "Citizen science and invasive alien species: An analysis of citizen science initiatives using information and communications technology (ICT) to collect invasive alien species observations". Global Ecology and Conservation. 21: e00812. doi:10.1016/j.gecco.2019.e00812.
  17. ^ "Eerste vondst van de Aziatische hoornaar Vespa velutina nigrithorax in Nederland (Hymenoptera: Vespidae)". Nederlandse Faunistische Mededelingen (in Dutch). 49: 1–10. 2017.
  18. ^ "De opmars van de Aziatische hoornaar (Vespa velutina) naar Nederland" (PDF). Entomologische berichten (in Dutch). 78. 2018.
  19. ^ Sevgili, Hasan; Yilmaz, Kaan. "Contributions of citizen scientists to monitoring alien species: the case study on Giant Asian Mantes, Hierodula tenuidentata and H. patellifera (Mantodea: Mantidae)". Zoology in the Middle East. 68 (4). doi:10.1080/09397140.2022.2145802. Cite error: The named reference "sevgili" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  20. ^ Gil-Tapetado, Diego; et al. "Aridity could have driven the local extinction of a common and multivoltine butterfly". Ecological Entomology. 48 (1): 40–54. doi:10.1111/een.13200. Retrieved 2023-12-26.
  21. ^ Saavedra, Irene; Rabadán-González, Julio; Aragonés, David; Figuerola, Jordi (2023-09-21). "Can Citizen Science Contribute to Avian Influenza Surveillance?". Pathogens. 12 (9): 1183. doi:10.3390/pathogens12091183. PMID 37764991.
  22. ^ "Libellenstatistiek". www.cbs.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 2023-12-27.
  23. ^ "Contribution of Observation.org to Ebba2 (Second European Breeding Bird Atlas)". agris.fao.org. Retrieved 2023-12-27.
  24. ^ "EuroBirdPortal -- Partners". eurobirdportal.org. Retrieved 2023-12-25.
  25. ^ Schermer, Maarten; Hogeweg, Laurens. "Supporting citizen scientists with automatic species identification using deep learning image recognition models". Biodiversity Information and Standards. doi:10.3897/biss.2.25268.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: unflagged free DOI (link)
  26. ^ Hogeweg, Laurens; Schermer, Maarten. "Machine Learning Model for Identifying Dutch/ Belgian Biodiversity". Biodiversity Information and Standards. doi:10.3897/biss.3.39229.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: unflagged free DOI (link)
  27. ^ "City Nature Challenges in Österreich". citynaturechallenge.at (in German). Retrieved 2023-12-26.
  28. ^ Kaufmann, Peter; et al. "Der Bioblitz Salzburg 2021 auf Observation.org – eine Citizen Science Bestandserfassung der urbanen Biodiversität Salzburgs" (PDF). Mitteilungen aus dem Haus der Natur Salzburg (in German). 28: 5–20. Retrieved 2023-12-26.
  29. ^ "Biomaratón de otoño 2022". www.miteco.gob.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 2023-12-26.
  30. ^ "Interview with Hisko de Vries". www.overmeersevogels.com (in Dutch). Retrieved 2023-12-25.
  31. ^ "Observation.org". dcnanature.org. Retrieved 2023-12-25.
  32. ^ "Natuurpunt Studie -- Waarnemingen.be". www.natuurpunt.be (in Dutch). Retrieved 2023-12-25.
  33. ^ ""OBSERVATIONS.BE", UN PORTAIL D'ENCODAGE POUR TOUS". www.natagora.be (in French). Retrieved 2023-12-25.

Category:Biodiversity databases Category:Citizen science