Turning crowds into communities: The collectives of online citizen science

Over the past two decades, a number of digital platforms have been developed with the aim of engaging citizens in scientific research projects. The success of these platforms depends in no small part on their ability to attract and retain participants, turning diffuse crowds of users into active and productive communities. This article investigates how the collectives of online citizen science are formed and governed, and identifies two ideal-types of government, either based on self-interest or on universal norms of science. Based on an ethnography of three citizen science platforms and a series of interviews with their managers, we show how different technologies – rhetorical, of the self, social, and ontological – can be diversely combined to configure these collectives. We suggest that the shift from individual projects to platforms is a defining moment for online citizen science, during which the technologies that sustain the collectives are standardized and automatized in ways that make the crowd appear to be a natural community.

Sustained Ranavirus outbreak causes mass-mortality and morbidity in imperiled amphibians.

A persistent two-month long outbreak of Ranavirus in a natural community of amphibians contributed to a mass die-off of gopher frog tadpoles (Lithobates capito) and severe disease in striped newts (Notophthalmus perstriatus) in Florida. Ongoing mortality in L. capito and signs in N. perstriatus continued for five weeks after the first observation. Hemorrhagic disease and necrosis were diagnosed from pathological examination of L. capito tadpoles. We confirmed detection of a Frog Virus 3 (FV3)-like Ranavirus via quantitative PCR in all species. Our findings highlight the susceptibility of these species to Rv and the need for long-term disease surveillance during epizootics.

The importance of intraspecific diversity on duckweed growth with and without salt stress

The pollution of freshwater ecosystems is threatening freshwater plant species diversity worldwide. Freshwater plants, such as duckweed (Lemna minor), are potentially sensitive to novel stressful environments. To test if intraspecific diversity could increase resistance to stressful environments, I used seven L. minor populations and assessed their growth rates in the absence and presence of moderate salt stress across an intraspecific diversity gradient.I grew the populations (ecotypes) of L. minor over five months in 92 experimental mesocosms in a glasshouse either in ecotype monocultures or in polyculture with either one or three conspecific ecotypes (23 unique compositions). The experiment was conducted in semi-natural conditions, including a natural community of algae and microbes. After assessing the duckweed growth rate in unperturbed conditions, the cultures were subjected to moderate salt stress (50mM NaCl) for several weeks. Population abundances were assessed weekly, both on the ecotype level and the whole-population level.Throughout the experiment, the ecotypes differed in their growth rates, the fastest growing at twice the rate of others. Whether the ecotypes grew in monoculture or in polyculture with other conspecifics further shaped the ecotype growth rates. Ecotype polycultures showed higher abundances towards the end of the experiment, indicating that over time, as the environment deteriorated, intraspecific diversity gained in importance. These findings show that intraspecific variation in growth rates can translate to a positive effect of intraspecific diversity on whole-population abundance. Exposure of L. minor to moderate salt levels did not significantly impact growth rates.

The explicit integration of Species Conceptual Models and Species Distribution Models as a best practice for systematic conservation planning in California

Natural Community Conservation Plans (NCCPs) represent the most powerful tool in statute for regional and systematic conservation planning for species at risk in California. This study examines the use of species conceptual models (SCMs) and species distribution models (SDMs) in such planning. Eighteen Natural Community Conservation Plans (NCCPs) were analyzed to determine if or how explicit connections were made between both types of models for a covered species and key components of its conservation strategy. Results indicate plans were strong in the use of SDMs, however, each deferred preparing or using SCMs to later management and monitoring phases. A more effective best planning practice for developing a conservation strategy is to explicitly integrate SCMs and SDMs during plan preparation.

Two for One: Conservation of Aquatic Ecosystems With Buffers Protects Terrestrial Ecosystems

We evaluated how three widths of buffer zones on greater than or equal to 100-ha wetlands (240, 300, and 390 m) and rivers (10, 20, and 30 m) would help meet watershed conservation goals in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, USA, and whether doing so also would protect each of the predominant types of terrestrial natural communities across the landscape. The use of buffer zones (even the narrowest widths assessed) around wetlands and riparian zones met or exceeded conservation targets in 75% of watersheds and greater than or equal to 85% of subwatersheds evaluated. Wetlands and riparian zones with buffers captured each of the predominant types of terrestrial natural community in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, but not proportionately to their availability across the entire landscape. Our work demonstrates that a landscape-conservation approach focused on wetlands and riparian zones with buffers can conserve terrestrial, wetland, and riparian ecosystems across Michigan's Upper Peninsula and may also be applicable in other areas where mapping of wetlands and rivers occurs.

PERAN PUBLIK FIGUR DALAM OPTIMALISASI PENGHIMPUNAN ZAKAT, INFAQ DAN SEDEKAH DI KABUPATEN TOLITOLI

The role of the zakat agency is very important to restore the trust of the natural community to carry out their obligations as a Muslim. The application of strategies in collecting zakat, infaq, and alms funds is very much needed, one of which is by cooperating with public figures to become marketing media for zakat amil. Public figures are required to provide good education for the community, especially public figures in the field of religion, because many of their activities are public spectacle. Therefore, public figures are expected to be examples for the community because they can influence public decisions in general. This research is descriptive research. Descriptive research is research that seeks to provide a systematic and careful description of the actual facts and characteristics of a particular population. The role of public figures can boost the collection of zakat, infaq and alms funds. Many muzakki claim to know public figures, rather than know their institutions. In fact, some of the muzakki trust public figures more than the amil zakat institutions. Some of these muzakki prefer to pay zakat, infaq, and alms funds through these public figures rather than paying them to zakat, infaq and alms amil funds.

Uncovering Hidden Community Structure in Multi-Layer Networks

Community detection, also known as graph clustering, in multi-layer networks has been extensively studied in the literature. The goal of community detection is to partition vertices in a network into densely connected components so called communities. Networks contain a set of strong, dominant communities, which may interfere with the detection of weak, natural community structure. When most of the members of the weak communities also belong to stronger communities, they are extremely hard to be uncovered. We call the weak communities the hidden or disguised community structure. In this paper, we present a method to uncover weak communities in a network by weakening the strength of the dominant structure. With the aim to detect the weak communities, through experiments, we observe real-world networks to answer the question of whether real-world networks have hidden community structure or not. Results of the hidden community detection (HCD) method showed the great variation in the number of communities detected in multiple layers when compared with the results of other community detection methods.

A new record of Betta splendens (Anabantiformes: Osphronemidae) for the northeastern Brazil

The introduction of exotic species, although harmful to the natural environment, still occurs accidentally, intentionally or as a strategy of biological control. In this work, a specimen of Betta splendens was collected and recorded for Northeastern Brazil, a fish of the family Osphronemidae, originally from Asia. This species has the potential to compete with the native species, causing alterations in the natural community. The record of this species in Brazilian environments and the lack of diagnostic works on this region makes this work of special importance and as an incentive for future investigations.

Effect of Deadwood Decomposition on the Restoration of Soil Cover in Landslide Areas of the Karpaty Mountains, Poland

Disturbances play an essential role in the shaping of temporal and spatial heterogeneity in natural community structures. The aim of this study was to provide an assessment of the deadwood influence on the chemical and biochemical properties of soils in a landslide area. The samples used to determine soil properties were collected from the entire landslide area, with locations distributed on a regular grid (50 × 50 m). The soil samples were collected from directly under the logs, and background soil samples were taken 1 m from the deadwood logs. The effect of the deadwood decomposition process was visible in the total organic carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) content and microbial activity of the soil. An increase in the enzyme activity and microbial biomass of the soil from directly beneath the deadwood was noted. In this study, it was found that a greater stock of deadwood was present in the accumulation zone, which resulted in a stronger effect of the released components on the soil cover. In order to restore landslide soils, microbial activity can be effectively stimulated by leaving deadwood on the landslide surface.