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talk · Tuesday 22 September · 16:17–⁠16:23 · ODIN

From citizen observations to long-term ecological knowledge: integrating iNaturalist records into LTER framework through automated enrichment

Alessandro Oggioni · Community-Powered, Research-Ready: Citizen Science for a Digital Future

Recording time 7:38:29–7:43:00Open on Vimeo ↗

Summaries and key moments are machine-produced. Check the recording for the speaker’s exact words.

The short versionRather than forcing citizens to produce structured data, automated enrichment elevates iNaturalist records into research-ready data for eLTER sites.

Overview

What this was about

Alessandro Oggioni presents an R package that treats iNaturalist as a service, downloading observations within eLTER site boundaries and automatically enriching them with IUCN Red List status, EU Habitats and Birds Directive annexes, nativeness from the EASIN database and standardised observation information. Outputs are research-ready interactive maps, charts and tables. The benefit is dual: eLTER sites gain additional observations and spatial coverage, while volunteers can engage in co-designed campaigns and see their observations gain scientific value.

Why it matters. It shows a low-burden route to integrate citizen observations into long-term ecological research infrastructures.

Key ideas

In the room

  • Vision: build workflows that structure citizen data instead of forcing citizens to produce structured data.
  • R package downloads iNaturalist observations by eLTER site boundaries.
  • Four enrichment pillars: IUCN Red List, EU Habitats and Birds Directives, nativeness (EASIN), standardised observation data.
  • Outputs: interactive map, analytical charts and tables.
  • Benefits for eLTER (more observations, expanded coverage) and citizens (co-design, future campaigns, elevated value).
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Notable moments

In their words

Transcript

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Programme abstract

From citizen observations to long-term ecological knowledge: integrating iNaturalist records into LTER framework through automated enrichment

Alessandro Oggioni

Citizen science observations have become major contributors to biodiversity knowledge, generating large volumes of high-quality data through widespread volunteer participation. Much of this information is shared via global open-access platforms such as iNaturalist; however, these observations often remain outside formal long-term ecological research workflows. To address this gap, an automated R-based workflow has been developed to harvest “research-grade” iNaturalist observations occurring within sites of the Long-Term Ecosystem Research (LTER) network in Europe and transform them into enriched, research-ready data for long-term ecological analysis. The workflow identifies observations geographically located within LTER sites and classified as high quality on iNaturalist, and enriches them via automated semantic augmentation using authoritative external sources. Each record is complemented with: (i) IUCN Red List conservation status, based on geographic relevance; (ii) nativeness information (Darwin Core “establishmentMeans”), filtered by country and sourced from iNaturalist; (iii) taxon protection status under the EU Habitats and Birds Directives, retrieved from the EUNIS database; and (iv) contribution to eLTER Standard Observations. The resulting R package, “ReLTER.inatEnrich”, provides an innovative integration layer enabling citizen-generated biodiversity data to directly support structured long-term ecological research. This approach offers a dual benefit: it supplies LTER sites with a replicable and user-friendly protocol to complement existing monitoring and enables cross-site comparisons, while enhancing the scientific value of citizen science data through contextual enrichment and integration into standardized ecological frameworks.

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