Can iEcology address Wallacean shortfalls in biodiversity data?

Abstract

Effective conservation of biodiversity, declining at unprecedented rate, requires not only monitoring of threatened species populations but also rapid detection of new incursions of alien species. However, traditional monitoring methods are costly, and citizen-science data is often geographically biased. iEcology, i.e. harnessing online digital data generated for purposes other than science (e.g. social media posts, photos, or online search behaviour), has been proposed as a tool to fill such biodiversity data gaps, especially in underrepresented regions. Despite growing interest, the full potential of iEcology for monitoring species distributions has not been systematically assessed. We systematically reviewed studies that used iEcology methods to obtain georeferenced species observation data, with specific focus on the representation of digital platforms, taxonomic groups, ecological realms (freshwater, marine, terrestrial) and geographic regions, as well as raw data availability. As a substantial proportion of the screened & reviewed studies focused on non-native species, we additionally assessed whether any reported impact information is relevant to Gloim (Global environmental impacts of plant invasions), our new project on global invasion impacts.