Many parts of the world lack the large and coordinated volunteer networks required for systematic monitoring of bird populations. In these regions, citizen science (CS) programs offer an alternative with their semi-structured data, but the utility of these data are contingent on how, where, and how comparably birdwatchers watch birds, year on year. Trends inferred from the data can be confounded during years when birdwatchers may behave differently, such as during the COVID-19 pandemic. We wanted to ascertain how the data uploaded from India to one such CS platform, eBird, were impacted by this deadly global pandemic. To understand whether eBird data from the pandemic years in India are comparable to data from adjacent years, we explored several characteristics of the data, such as how often people watched birds in groups or at public locations, at multiple spatial and temporal scales. We found that the volume of data generated increased during the pandemic years 2020–2021 compared to 2019. Data characteristics changed largely only during the peak pandemic months (April–May 2020 and April–May 2021) associated with high fatality rates and strict lockdowns. These changes in data characteristics (e.g., greater site fidelity and less group birding) were possibly due to the decreased human mobility and social interaction in these periods. The data from the remainder of these restrictive years remained similar to those of the adjacent years, thereby reducing the impact of the aberrant peak months on any annual inference. Our findings show that birdwatchers in India as contributors to CS rapidly returned to their pre-pandemic behavior, and that the effects of the pandemic on birdwatching effort and birdwatcher behavior are scale- and context-dependent. In summary, eBird data from the pandemic years in India remain useful for abundance trend estimation and similar large-scale applications, but will benefit from preliminary data quality checks when utilized at a fine scale.
How to Cite Thrikkadeeri, K., and A. Viswanathan (2024). Despite short-lived changes, COVID-19 pandemic had minimal large-scale impact on citizen science participation in India. Ornithological Applications 126:duae024.
LAY SUMMARY
Citizen science platforms like eBird comprise vast repositories of data generated by casual birdwatching.
Such data are vital to understanding bird population trends, but large changes in how birdwatchers watch birds from year to year can be very challenging to account for when estimating trends.
Given the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our everyday lives, we investigated whether it also impacted the way people reported birds, thereby potentially reducing the value of the data for trend analyses.
We analyzed data uploaded to eBird from India and found that the impacts of the pandemic on how these data were collected were largely restricted to April and May 2020. During these months that coincided with the greatest health impacts and movement restrictions, birdwatchers made fewer traveling lists, and made fewer lists in groups and at public locations.
Birdwatchers were quick to bounce back from these difficult periods, and soon started birdwatching like they had done before the pandemic.
Because the pandemic impact on characteristics of eBird data from India was limited to short periods, we conclude that the data still remain useful for analyses of bird abundance trends.
Muchas partes del mundo carecen de las grandes y coordinadas redes de voluntarios necesarias para el monitoreo sistemático de las poblaciones de aves. En estas regiones, los programas de ciencia ciudadana ofrecen una alternativa con sus datos semiestructurados, pero la utilidad de estos datos depende de cómo, dónde y cuán comparativamente los observadores de aves censan las aves, año tras año. Las tendencias inferidas de los datos pueden verse confundidas durante años en los que los observadores de aves pueden comportarse de manera diferente, como durante la pandemia de COVID-19. Queríamos determinar cómo los datos subidos desde la India a una de las plataformas de ciencia ciudadana, eBird, se vieron afectados por esta mortal pandemia global. Para entender si los datos de eBird de los años de pandemia en la India son comparables con los datos de años adyacentes, exploramos varias características de los datos, como la frecuencia con que la gente observaba aves en grupos o en lugares públicos, a múltiples escalas espaciales y temporales. Encontramos que el volumen de datos generados aumentó durante los años de pandemia 2020–2021 en comparación con 2019. Las características de los datos cambiaron en gran medida solo durante los meses pico de la pandemia (abril-mayo de 2020 y abril-mayo de 2021), asociados con altas tasas de mortalidad y confinamientos estrictos. Estos cambios en las características de los datos (e.g., mayor fidelidad al sitio y menos observación de aves en grupo) se debieron posiblemente a la disminución de la movilidad humana y de la interacción social en estos períodos. Los datos del resto de estos años restrictivos se mantuvieron similares a los de los años adyacentes, reduciendo así el impacto de los meses con distorsiones pico en cualquier inferencia anual. Nuestros hallazgos muestran que los observadores de aves en la India, como contribuyentes a la ciencia ciudadana, regresaron rápidamente a su comportamiento previo a la pandemia, y que los efectos de la pandemia en el esfuerzo de observación de aves y en el comportamiento de los observadores de aves dependen de la escala y el contexto. En resumen, los datos de eBird de los años de pandemia en la India siguen siendo útiles para la estimación de tendencias de abundancia y aplicaciones similares a gran escala, pero puede ser beneficioso verificar preliminarmente la calidad de los datos cuando se utilicen a una escala fina.
