One of the challenges with citizen science programs is that the data required for a project to be a success are too complicated or time consuming for volunteers to collect. The National Waterbug Blitz (https://waterbugblitz.org.au) is attempting to address this challenge by using three tiers of activity (methods) to collect freshwater macroinvertebrate data, each level more complicated than the previous. The aims of this approach are, at the very minimum, to collect a simple dataset, which enhances participant motivation and potentially allows more complex datasets to be collected as their experience increases.
The three tiers in the Waterbug Blitz are:
The Mayfly Muster will simply identify the presence of Ephemeroptera across the landscape, mapping in detail the boundary around urban areas where water quality is too poor for them to persist.
Order-level waterbug assessments will be used in several states to generate assessments of waterway health.
Agreed Level Taxonomy (ALT) will be used to generate assessments of waterway health and teaches users to identify a wide range of different freshwater macroinvertebrates. ALT also provides additional information on biodiversity.
To ensure high data quality, a variety of quality control procedures will be implemented and managed through an associated App (The Waterbug App). This will also allow novice data to be co-analysed alongside data collected by more experienced volunteers in order to make waterway assessments.
The National Waterbug Blitz aims to extend existing Waterwatch-style programs and fill gaps in nationwide biological monitoring, while contributing to public education and engagement in water management issues.