Utilising citizen science data for monitoring released biological control agents on invasive weed species

Abstract

Monitoring is conducted to determine the establishment and spread of an introduced agent, detect any off-target damage and denote the success of a mass rear and release program. If the presence of agents is observed in this time, distribution data is collected, and once long-term establishment is achieved, the rear and release program enters into the field redistribution stage. Monitoring is normally done by people involved within the project, however in recent years the use of citizen science on data collection platforms such as iNaturalist Australia (iNaturalistAU) or Atlas of Living Australia (ALA) has expanded. This has created an opportunity for researchers to utilise released agent detections and spread on a wider scale through citizen science.