On a college camping trip, curiosity about waves and sand caused Rob Thieler to study shorelines around the world. Thirty years later and now a U.S. Geological Survey research geologist, Thieler, is combining science and smartphone technology to help study an endangered bird, the Atlantic Coast piping plover.
The piping plover is a shorebird that breeds（繁殖）along the Atlantic Coast, the Great Lakesand the Great Plains. Rising sea levels associated with climate change, as well as increased development in their beach habitats（栖息地）, threaten the species（物种）. To help track changes in piping plover habitats, Thieler developed a free app called iPlover in 2012. This is a marked change from the typical way scientists collect data, which involves gathering information using specialized equipment or writing in notebooks and then putting into spreadsheets.
Since releasing iPlover, scientists have gathered data across 1500 km of breeding range. Thatequals about a third of the distance across the U.S., which is a large area to cover for only two thousand breeding pairs of piping plovers on the east coast. Instead of having to travel and spend days at each site, a number of cooperators in the field use the app to collect and send data, allowing scientists to gather data more efficiently. It also allows them to collect data at the same time during each breeding season, providing a better picture of changes that happen over longer periods of time. And fast, centralized access means scientists can look at data quickly to get a real-time idea of where and how piping plovers are using their habitats.
While iPlover is used by trained field staff, other apps like the U. S. Geological Survey'sweb-based “iCoast—Did the Coast Change?” invite citizen scientists to identify coastal changes by comparing bird's-eye-view photographs taken before and after storms. All the information scientists and citizen scientists alike collect helps federal and state agencies create policyplans for addressing climate change impacts (影响) worldwide.
