PS 76-179
Methods to increase participation in an invasive aquatic plant monitoring program in Michgian, USA
The Exotic Aquatic Plant Watch (EAPW) program is a specialized volunteer component of Michigan’s Cooperative Lakes Monitoring Program (CLMP). This program, like most citizen science, connects the public to local aquatic resources as well as provides valuable data to local and statewide managers. Although there is great interest in this particular program, evidenced by high attendance at the annual EAPW training sessions, volunteer enrollment and completion rates in this seven-year-old program has remained relatively low. During 2013, approximately 225 lakes participate in the CLMP, but only 20 lakes enrolled in EAPW (only 13% enrollment rate). Of those 13% of lakes that enroll in the program, historically only 50% will report or submit their data to the CLMP program staff. To address these concerns, we conducted on-site visits in 2013 with a sample of lake volunteers (n=10) to identify where the gap in enrollment and reporting most often occurs and where to increase our efforts to recruit more volunteers to enroll in the EAPW program.
Results/Conclusions
At the end of 2013, data were submitted from 56% of EAPW enrolled lakes (a 14% increase from 2012). This result indicates that staff involvement and hands-on investment is essential to increasing participation and reporting. Based on communication with volunteers during site visits we found that volunteer-friendly protocols and availability of good identification resources are necessary to build volunteer confidence. In general, volunteers lack confidence in deciding where to sample and how to accurately identify exotic plants. This finding led to the updating of the 2014 program methods to include clear, unambiguous sampling protocol and increase identification resources such as the creation and distribution of a Michigan-specific exotic plant field guide that is lightweight, small and water resistant. To encourage the submission of hard-to-ID plants to EAPW staff, we created a protocol and provided cheat-sheets to help volunteers take and send electronic high-quality field photos of plants. Volunteer also indicated that they would like more direction and program emphasis on building teamwork and recruiting additional volunteers to assist in sampling. Acknowledging these findings, we plan to implement and monitor these changes during 2014.