Role of digital technology in freshwater biodiversity monitoring through citizen science during COVID-19 pandemic

Formerly considered rare, the ant species Cryptoponeochracea (Mayr, 1855) can be commonly detected using citizen-science tools

Citizen science is a valuable tool for monitoring different species, especially in cases concerning truly rare and difficult-to-detect species where time-consuming field studies are limited and long-term research projects are uncertain. To better understand the distribution of the rarely collected Cryptoponeochracea (Mayr, 1855) (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) in Hungary, we obtained the occurrence data with photos uploaded by non-professionals to the page of the largest Hungarian Facebook group dealing with ants and a citizen-science website dealing with biological data collection. In this article, we expand the known distribution of C.ochracea to include 46 new records from Hungary and one from Serbia. With two historical records, this previously undersampled species has now been found 48 times in Hungary. Our results prove that social media platforms and other websites for citizen science projects offer new and useful opportunities for researchers to involve non-professionals in scientific work and, thus, obtain large amounts of valuable data, even for understudied arthropod species.

How Digital Platforms Enhance Urban Resilience

Throughout human history, natural and man-made disasters have devastated cities in unpredictable ways. Cities must therefore respond faster and better to minimize the risks posed by disasters. Nowadays, with the rapid development of communication technology, digital platforms are increasingly becoming an indispensable part of people’s lives; hence, they could become a new force for urban resilience. However, there are few studies on how digital platforms enhance urban resilience, so this paper attempts to use the method of CiteSpace (V.5.8.R3, 64 bit) scientometrics analysis and literature analysis to study the dimensions and trends of urban resilience, the role of digital platforms in the dimensions of urban resilience, especially focusing on how digital platforms impact on urban resilience during COVID-19. The results showed that there is considerable literature on natural disasters and infrastructure, but few papers discuss urban governance, knowledge systems, and social media. Furthermore, it is also found that digital platforms contributed to the enhancement of urban resilience in China and Singapore during COVID-19. These suggests that enhancing urban resilience through digital platforms can be a viable approach.