Discover Life: Collecting high-quality data on species using photography and online tools

Background/Question/Methods

Discover Life (www.discoverlife.org) provides the means for projects to collect and analyze data across large geographical scales.  Its integrated tools include over 500 identification guides and checklists, 600 photographic albums, a global mapper that shows the distribution of over 400,000 species, and quantitative tools to understand changes in seasonality across years.

Regarding technology, the talk focuses on how we ensure high quality data submitted by experts and novices alike by using digital photography.  It presents Discover Life's moth project (www.discoverlife.org/moth), giving an overview of how it has identified and analyzed over 600 species in 50,000 photographs.

The scientific focus of the talk addresses the impacts of climate change, pollution, and other factors on the phenology and abundance of moths.  It presents data from nightly monitoring at lights since March, 2010, focusing on a site in Clarke County, Georgia.  Depending on the species, these data show shifts in the timing of generations between years.

Regarding education, the project teaches quantitative methods as a means to motivate teachers and students to participate in scientific projects.

Results/Conclusions

The take home message is that digital photography and online tools provide a means for everyone to collect high-quality data, conduct original research, and learn science.