Assessing the value of the iNaturalist platform across multi-domain LTER-Italy sites

The collection of biodiversity data is possible by non-professionals and this is part of a not-canonical and interdisciplinary approach on scientific research called “citizen science”. One of the most important factors which accelerated the development of citizen science in the last decade has been the use of mobile devices which incorporate sensors. The smartphone is one of these devices for the possibility of catching pictures and register a number of information (mainly date, hour, geographic position). In this context, the data provided by a community of citizens can be used for testing scientific hypotheses or developing experiments. iNaturalist is a nonprofit social network of citizen scientists developed to share biodiversity observations and currently it is the fourth largest data provider to the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF - www.gbif.org/). Through it, users can collect, organize, map, and share biodiversity observations across the globe. In this study, we used the iNaturalist platform to assess the impact of the data collected within the LTER-Italy umbrella project (www.inaturalist.org/projects/lter-italy-network), which means that all observations recorded within the boundaries of LTER-Italy sites, according to the Dynamic Ecological Information Management System - Site and Dataset Registry (DEIMS-SDR) (see Table 1, Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 step A), are automatically collected under the project. Our analysis aimed to evaluate how the data generated through the iNaturalist platform contributes to scientific research within the LTER-Italy sites, including their relevance, usability, and integration into the broader goals of the network.