Contribution of citizen science towards cryptic species census: "many eyes" define wintering range of the Scaly-sided Merganser in mainland China

Qing Zeng; Qian Wei; Guangchun Lei

doi:10.1186/s40657-018-0098-5

Volume 9 Issue 1

Nov. 2019

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Avian Research > 2018 > 9(1): 6. > DOI: 10.1186/s40657-018-0098-5

Qing Zeng, Qian Wei, Guangchun Lei. 2018: Contribution of citizen science towards cryptic species census: "many eyes" define wintering range of the Scaly-sided Merganser in mainland China. Avian Research, 9(1): 6. DOI: 10.1186/s40657-018-0098-5

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Contribution of citizen science towards cryptic species census: "many eyes" define wintering range of the Scaly-sided Merganser in mainland China

1.
School of Nature Conservation, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, China
2.
China Birdwatching Association, Chengdu, China Keywords

Funds:

This project was financed by National Key R & D Program of China 2017YFC0405303

SEE Foundation and National Geographic

More Information

Corresponding author:
Lei Guangchun, guangchun8099@gmail.com
Received Date: 05 Jan 2018
Accepted Date: 06 Feb 2018
Available Online: 24 Apr 2022
Publish Date: 25 Feb 2018

Graphical Abstract

Abstract

Abstract

Background
Citizen science has tremendous potential in advancing scientific knowledge and improving natural resource management. To detect the wintering distribution of the endangered species Scaly-sided Merganser (Mergus squamatus), national wintering surveys were organized by China Birdwatching Association.
Methods
The surveys of M. squamatus were conducted in three successive winters from 2014 to 2016. A total of 2019 people from 102 organizations participated in the surveys. With three groups of 13 environmental variables, species distribution model for its wintering distribution of each year was developed using random forest. Schoener's D index was used to compare the distribution of M. squamatus in 3 years.
Results
Totally, 441, 634 and 1138 individuals of M. squamatus were recorded in 2014, 2015 and 2016 respectively. Two main sites in Dabie Mountain and East Qinling mountains were verified and the wintering range of M. squamatus was defined. The wintering range was found to be highly identical for the 3 years.
Conclusions
The highly overlapped distribution range among years suggested that the wintering range of M. squamatus was relatively stable. Well organized and coordinated citizen science can be used to define distribution range and improve species conservation.
- Wintering distribution,
- Citizen science,
- Mergus squamatus,
- Random forest

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Correction to: Avian Res (2018) 9:31

https://doi.org/10.1186/s40657-018-0123-8

Unfortunately, the original article (Fuchs and Zuccon 2018) contained some errors. The Tables 1, 2 and Additional file 1: Table S2 were displayed incorrectly. The correct tables can be found below.

Table 1. Details of the six specimens of Orthotomus rufceps from southern Vietnam (original label mention is Cochinchina) collected by Louis Rodolphe Germain and representing, to our knowledge, the only specimens deposited in natural history museums

Collector	Catalog number	Sex	Collection Date	Locality	Country
Germain L.R.	MNHN ZO 1866-573	Female	28 February 1864	'Cochinchina'	Vietnam
Germain L.R.	MNHN ZO 1882-738	Male		'Cochinchina'	Vietnam
Germain L.R.	MNHN ZO 1882-739	Female	21 April 1865	'Cochinchina'	Vietnam
Germain L.R.	MNHN ZO 1882-740	Female		'Cochinchina'	Vietnam
Germain L.R.	MNHN ZO 1882-742	Male	29 February 1864	'Cochinchina'	Vietnam
Germain L.R.	SMF 78404	Male		'Cochinchina'	Vietnam
The specimen in Senckenberg was previously cataloged at MNHN with the number MNHN ZO 1882-741; this specimen was not sequenced

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Table 2. Details of the nine specimens of Orthotomus sequenced as part of this study

Species	Collector	Catalog number	Collection date	Locality	Country
ruficeps	Germain L.R.	MNHN ZO 1866-573	28 February 1864	'Cochinchina'	Vietnam
ruficeps	Germain L.R.	MNHN ZO 1882-738		'Cochinchina'	Vietnam
ruficeps	Germain L.R.	MNHN ZO 1882-739	21 April 1865	'Cochinchina'	Vietnam
ruficeps	Germain L.R.	MNHN ZO 1882-740		'Cochinchina'	Vietnam
ruficeps	Germain L.R.	MNHN ZO 1882-742	29 February 1864	'Cochinchina'	Vietnam
atrogularis	Germain L.R.	MNHN ZO 1882-728	13 April 1867	'Saigon, Cochinchina'	Vietnam
atrogularis	J. Delacour/P. Jabouille	MNHN ZO 1929-1463	27 February 1928	Phu-Qui	Vietnam
atrogularis	J. Delacour/P. Jabouille	MNHN ZO 1939-913	25 January 1930	Hoi-Xuan	Vietnam
atrogularis	J. Roche/J. Thiney	MNHN ZO 1989-120	17 December 1986	Trang	Thailand

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Additional file

Additional file 1: Table S2. Measurement details for the specimens included in the biometric analyses.

The original article can be found online at https://doi.org/10.1186/s40657-018-0123-8.

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