Worldwide, decision-makers and nongovernment organizations are increasing their use of citizen volunteers to enhance their ability to monitor and manage natural resources, track species at risk, and conserve protected areas. We reviewed the last 10 years of relevant citizen science literature for areas of consensus, divergence, and knowledge gaps. Different community-based monitoring (CBM) activities and governance structures were examined and contrasted. Literature was examined for evidence of common benefits, challenges, and recommendations for successful citizen science. Two major gaps were identified: (1) a need to compare and contrast the success (and the situations that induce success) of CBM programs which present sound evidence of citizen scientists influencing positive environmental changes in the local ecosystems they monitor and (2) more case studies showing use of CBM data by decision-makers or the barriers to linkages and how these might be overcome. If new research focuses on these gaps, and on the differences of opinions that exist, we will have a much better understanding of the social, economic, and ecological benefits of citizen science.

A review of citizen science and community-based environmental monitoring: issues and opportunities

This paper identi"es challenges inherent in addressing multi-scale environmental problems, and outlines tentative guidelines for addressing such challenges and linking science and policy across scales. The study and practice of environmental assessment and management increasingly recognize the importance of scale and cross-scale dynamics in understanding and addressing global environmental change. These ongoing e!orts, however, lack a systematic way of thinking about and addressing the challenges involved in integrating science and policy across multiple scales, for example, in the design of policy-relevant, scienti"c assessments of problems such as climate change. These challenges include matching scales of biogeophysical systems with scales of management systems, avoiding scale discordance (matching the scale of the assessment with the scale of management), and accounting for cross-scale dynamics. In this paper we propose tentative guidelines for meeting such challenges for both assessors and decisionmakers: (1) utilize boundary organizations* institutions which serve to mediate between scientists and decision-makers, and between these actors at di!erent scales; (2) utilize scale-dependent comparative advantages * coordinating the allocation of resources, technical expertise, and decision-making authority to best capitalize on scale-speci"c capabilities; and (3) employ adaptive assessment and management strategies * constructing long-term, iterative, experiment-based processes of integrated assessment and management. ( 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

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Linking global and local scales: designing dynamic assessment and management processes

Nutrient loading to coastal bay ecosystems is of a similar magnitude as that to deeper, river-fed estuar- ies, yet our understanding of the eutrophication process in these shallow systems lags far behind. In this synthesis, we focus on one type of biotic feedback that influences eu- trophication patterns in coastal bays—the important role of primary producers in the 'coastal filter'. We discuss the 2 aspects of plant-mediated nutrient cycling as eutrophica- tion induces a shift in primary producer dominance: (1) the fate of nutrients bound in plant biomass, and (2) the effects of primary producers on biogeochemical processes that in- fluence nutrient retention. We suggest the following gen- eralizations as eutrophication proceeds in coastal bays: (1) Long-term retention of recalcitrant dissolved and particu- late organic matter will decline as seagrasses are replaced by algae with less refractory material. (2) Benthic grazers buffer the early effects of nutrient enrichment, but con- sumption rates will decline as physico-chemical conditions stress consumer populations. (3) Mass transport of plant- bound nutrients will increase because attached perennial macrophytes will be replaced by unattached ephemeral algae that move with the water. (4) Denitrification will be an unimportant sink for N because primary producers typically outcompete bacteria for available N, and parti- tioning of nitrate reduction will shift to dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium in later stages of eutrophication. In tropical/subtropical systems dominated by carbonate sediments, eutrophication will likely result in a positive feedback where increased sulfate reduction and sulfide accumulation in sediments will decrease P adsorption to Fe and enhance the release of P to the overlying water.

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Eutrophication in shallow coastal bays and lagoons: the role of plants in the coastal filter

Monitoring of biodiversity and resource use by professional scientists is often costly and hard to sustain, especially in developing countries, where financial resources are limited. Moreover, such monitoring can be logistically and technically difficult and is often perceived to be irrelevant by resource managers and the local communities. Alternatives are emerging, carried out at a local scale and by individuals with little formal education. The methods adopted span a spectrum, from participatory monitoring where aims and objectives are defined by the community, to ranger-based monitoring in protected areas. What distinguishes these approaches is that local people or local government staff are directly involved in data collection and (in most instances) analysis. In this issue of Biodiversity and Conservation, 15 case studies examine whether these new approaches can address the limitations of professional monitoring in developing countries. The case studies evaluate ongoing locally-based monitoring schemes involving more than 1500 community members in 13 countries. The papers are based on a symposium held in Denmark in April 2004 (www. monitoringmatters.org). Here, we review how the case studies shed light on the following key issues concerning locally-based methods: cost, sustainability, their ability to detect true local or larger-scale trends, their links to management decisions and action, and the empowerment of local constituencies. Locally-based monitoring appears to be consistently cheap relative to the costs of management and of professional monitoring, even though the start-up costs can be high. Most local monitoring schemes are still young and thus their chances of being sustained over the longer term are not yet certain. However, we believe their chances of surviving are better than many professional schemes, particularly when they are institutionalised within existing management structures, and linked to the delivery of ecosystem goods or services to local communities. When properly designed, local schemes yield locally relevant results that can be as reliable as those derived from professional monitoring. Many management decisions emanate from local schemes. The decisions appear to be taken promptly, in response to immediate threats to the environment, and often lead to community-based actions to protect habitats, species or the local flow of ecosystem benefits; however, few local schemes have so far led to actions beyond the local scale. Locally-based monitoring schemes often reinforce existing community-based resource management systems and lead to change in the attitude of locals towards more environmentally sustainable resource management. Locally-derived data have considerable unexplored potential to elucidate global patterns of change in the status of populations and habitats, the services they provide, and the threats they face, but more effort is needed to develop effective modalities for feeding locally-derived data up to national and international levels.

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Monitoring Matters: Examining the Potential of Locally-based Approaches

The hypothesis that physical lagoon characteristics and variability depend on the channel connecting the lagoon to the adjacent coastal ocean is evaluated. The geographical, hydrological, and oceanographic characteristics of 10 lagoon systems are described and analyzed; these oceanographic features are utilized to classify the lagoon systems. Choked lagoons (Laguna Joyuda, Coorong, Lake St.Lucia, Gippsland Lakes, Lake Songkla/Thale Luang/Thale Noi, and Lagoa dos Patos) are prevalent on coasts with high wave energy and low tidal range; restricted lagoons (Lake Pontchartrain and Laguna de Terminos) are located on low/medium wave energy coasts with a low tidal range; and leaky lagoons (Mississippi Sound and Belize Lagoon/Chetumal Bay) are connected to the ocean by wide tidal passes that transmit oceanic effects into the lagoon with a minimum of resistance. The data support the hypothesis that the nature of the connecting channel controls system functions.

Comparative oceanography of coastal lagoons

An assessment of developing eutrophic conditions in small temperate lagoons along the coast of Rhode Island suggests that in such shallow, macrophyte based systems the response to nutrient enrichment differs from that described for plankton based systems. The nitrogen loadings per unit area of the salt ponds are 240–770 mmol N per m2 per year. Instead of the high nutrient concentrations, increased phytoplankton biomass and turbidity, leading to eventual loss of benthic macrophytes described for such systems as the Chesapeake, Patuxent and Appalachicola Bay, nutrient enrichment of the Rhode Island lagoons has led to increased growth of marine macroalgae. The increased macroalgal growth appears to alter the benthic habitat and a shift from a grazing to detrital food chain appears to be impacting important shellfisheries. As more extensive areas of organic sediments develop, geochemical cycling changes, resulting in higher rates of nitrogen remineralization and accelerated eutrophication. The major sources of nitrogen inputs to the salt ponds have been identified and a series of management initiatives have been designed to limit inputs from present and potential development within the watersheds of the lagoons.

Eutrophication and management initiatives for the control of nutrient inputs to Rhode Island coastal lagoons

In many coastal states and territories, coastal zone management (CZM) programs have been the prime catalyst in leveraging public access initiatives among state and federal agencies, public organizations, and the private sector. A wide range of tools are used, including acquisition, regulations, technical assistance, and public education. The diversity of approaches is illustrated through a variety of case examples. Although hard numbers for measuring outcomes were not uniformly available, between 1985 and 1988, when federal and state CZM funding dedicated to public access was tracked, $141.5 million (unadjusted 1988 dollars) were spent on 455 public access-related projects. A policy shift occurred in the 1990s away from reliance on acquisition and regulation as the most effective means of providing access and toward technical assistance and public outreach-a response to the overall decrease in funds available for access. CZM programs have been able to balance the contradictory goals of the federal Coastal...

Providing Public Access to the Shore: The Role of Coastal Zone Management Programs

A Profile of Volunteer Environmental Monitoring: National Survey Results

This article describes a multiple benefit/multiple use approach to implementing vegetated buffers, using as an example a program adopted by the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Program. The multiple benefit/multiple use approach capitalizes on the inherent ability of vegetated buffers to perform multiple functions, such as pollutant removal, habitat protection, scenic improvement, erosion control, and historic/archaeological site preservation. These benefits provide a more robust means for justifying vegetated buffer implementation, and should help develop a broader constituency for the adoption of vegetated buffer policies. Application of vegetated buffers for residential and other developing lands has not been adequately addressed in existing vegetated buffer implementation efforts. We present one solution to implementing vegetated buffers on residential and developing lands. The approach and background information should prove useful for the application of vegetated buffers outside of coastal ...

Development of coastal vegetated buffer programs

The Federal Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 (CZMA) was substantially amended by Congress in 1990 to create a new program. The Coastal Zone Enhancement Grants Program (Section 309) encourages states to improve their coastal zone management (CZM) programs in eight national enhancement areas. A review of the § 309 Enhancement Grants Program between 1992 and 1994 indicates that the overall intent of the program is being actively pursued by all coastal states with some notable achievements. The § 309 program is serving as a catalyst for states to address issues beyond their existing programs and regulations. States are paying more attention to national issues, especially cumulative and secondary impacts of coastal development. States are strengthening their CZM programs through enactment of specific measurable changes such as new legislation, revised regulations, and adoption of local plans. The program's strength comes from its ability to leverage § 309 to targeted needs. It is too soon to determine the u...

Virginia Lee

Papers

Eutrophication and management initiatives for the control of nutrient inputs to Rhode Island coastal lagoons

Providing Public Access to the Shore: The Role of Coastal Zone Management Programs

A Profile of Volunteer Environmental Monitoring: National Survey Results

Development of coastal vegetated buffer programs

Review of the section 309 coastal states enhancement grants program