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Väisänen T, Heikinheimo V, Hiippala T, Toivonen T. Exploring human-nature interactions in national parks with social media photographs and computer vision. Conserv Biol 2021; 35:424-436. [PMID: 33749054 DOI: 10.1111/cobi.13704] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2020] [Revised: 08/07/2020] [Accepted: 08/14/2020] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Understanding the activities and preferences of visitors is crucial for managing protected areas and planning conservation strategies. Conservation culturomics promotes the use of user-generated online content in conservation science. Geotagged social media content is a unique source of in situ information on human presence and activities in nature. Photographs posted on social media platforms are a promising source of information, but analyzing large volumes of photographs manually remains laborious. We examined the application of state-of-the-art computer-vision methods to studying human-nature interactions. We used semantic clustering, scene classification, and object detection to automatically analyze photographs taken in Finnish national parks by domestic and international visitors. Our results showed that human-nature interactions can be extracted from user-generated photographs with computer vision. The different methods complemented each other by revealing broad visual themes related to level of the data set, landscape photogeneity, and human activities. Geotagged photographs revealed distinct regional profiles for national parks (e.g., preferences in landscapes and activities), which are potentially useful in park management. Photographic content differed between domestic and international visitors, which indicates differences in activities and preferences. Information extracted automatically from photographs can help identify preferences among diverse visitor groups, which can be used to create profiles of national parks for conservation marketing and to support conservation strategies that rely on public acceptance. The application of computer-vision methods to automatic content analysis of photographs should be explored further in conservation culturomics, particularly in combination with rich metadata available on social media platforms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tuomas Väisänen
- Digital Geography Lab, Department of Geosciences and Geography, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, 00014, Finland
- Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, 00014, Finland
| | - Vuokko Heikinheimo
- Digital Geography Lab, Department of Geosciences and Geography, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, 00014, Finland
- Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, 00014, Finland
| | - Tuomo Hiippala
- Digital Geography Lab, Department of Geosciences and Geography, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, 00014, Finland
- Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, 00014, Finland
- Department of Languages, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, 00014, Finland
| | - Tuuli Toivonen
- Digital Geography Lab, Department of Geosciences and Geography, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, 00014, Finland
- Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, 00014, Finland
- Conservation Science Group, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3EJ, U.K
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Correia RA, Ladle R, Jarić I, Malhado ACM, Mittermeier JC, Roll U, Soriano-Redondo A, Veríssimo D, Fink C, Hausmann A, Guedes-Santos J, Vardi R, Di Minin E. Digital data sources and methods for conservation culturomics. Conserv Biol 2021; 35:398-411. [PMID: 33749027 DOI: 10.1111/cobi.13706] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2020] [Revised: 04/27/2020] [Accepted: 06/05/2020] [Indexed: 05/20/2023]
Abstract
Ongoing loss of biological diversity is primarily the result of unsustainable human behavior. Thus, the long-term success of biodiversity conservation depends on a thorough understanding of human-nature interactions. Such interactions are ubiquitous but vary greatly in time and space and are difficult to monitor efficiently at large spatial scales. However, the Information Age also provides new opportunities to better understand human-nature interactions because many aspects of daily life are recorded in a variety of digital formats. The emerging field of conservation culturomics aims to take advantage of digital data sources and methods to study human-nature interactions and thus to provide new tools for studying conservation at relevant temporal and spatial scales. Nevertheless, technical challenges associated with the identification, access, and analysis of relevant data hamper the wider adoption of culturomics methods. To help overcome these barriers, we propose a conservation culturomics research framework that addresses data acquisition, analysis, and inherent biases. The main sources of culturomic data include web pages, social media, and other digital platforms from which metrics of content and engagement can be obtained. Obtaining raw data from these platforms is usually desirable but requires careful consideration of how to access, store, and prepare the data for analysis. Methods for data analysis include network approaches to explore connections between topics, time-series analysis for temporal data, and spatial modeling to highlight spatial patterns. Outstanding challenges associated with culturomics research include issues of interdisciplinarity, ethics, data biases, and validation. The practical guidance we offer will help conservation researchers and practitioners identify and obtain the necessary data and carry out appropriate analyses for their specific questions, thus facilitating the wider adoption of culturomics approaches for conservation applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ricardo A Correia
- Department of Geosciences and Geography, Helsinki Lab of Interdisciplinary Conservation Science, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, 00014, Finland
- Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science (HELSUS), University of Helsinki, Helsinki, 00014, Finland
- CESAM - Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies, University of Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, Aveiro, 3910-193, Portugal
- Institute of Biological and Health Sciences, Federal University of Alagoas, Maceió, 57072-900, Brazil
| | - Richard Ladle
- Institute of Biological and Health Sciences, Federal University of Alagoas, Maceió, 57072-900, Brazil
- CIBIO/InBio, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Laboratório Associado, Universidade do Porto, Porto, 4485-661, Portugal
| | - Ivan Jarić
- Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Hydrobiology, České Budějovice, 37005, Czech Republic
- Department of Ecosystem Biology, Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, České Budějovice, 37005, Czech Republic
| | - Ana C M Malhado
- Institute of Biological and Health Sciences, Federal University of Alagoas, Maceió, 57072-900, Brazil
| | - John C Mittermeier
- School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3QY, U.K
| | - Uri Roll
- Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology, The Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Midreshet Ben-Gurion, 8499000, Israel
| | - Andrea Soriano-Redondo
- CIBIO/InBio, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Laboratório Associado, Universidade do Porto, Porto, 4485-661, Portugal
- CIBIO/InBio, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Laboratório Associado, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, 1349-017, Portugal
| | - Diogo Veríssimo
- Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3SZ, U.K
- Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3BD, U.K
- San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research, Escondido, CA, 92027, U.S.A
| | - Christoph Fink
- Department of Geosciences and Geography, Helsinki Lab of Interdisciplinary Conservation Science, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, 00014, Finland
- Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science (HELSUS), University of Helsinki, Helsinki, 00014, Finland
| | - Anna Hausmann
- Department of Geosciences and Geography, Helsinki Lab of Interdisciplinary Conservation Science, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, 00014, Finland
- Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science (HELSUS), University of Helsinki, Helsinki, 00014, Finland
| | - Jhonatan Guedes-Santos
- Institute of Biological and Health Sciences, Federal University of Alagoas, Maceió, 57072-900, Brazil
| | - Reut Vardi
- The Albert Katz International School for Desert Studies, The Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Midreshet Ben-GurionDurban, 8499000, Israel
| | - Enrico Di Minin
- Department of Geosciences and Geography, Helsinki Lab of Interdisciplinary Conservation Science, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, 00014, Finland
- Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science (HELSUS), University of Helsinki, Helsinki, 00014, Finland
- School of Life Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 4041, South Africa
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Di Minin E, Fink C, Hausmann A, Kremer J, Kulkarni R. How to address data privacy concerns when using social media data in conservation science. Conserv Biol 2021; 35:437-446. [PMID: 33749044 DOI: 10.1111/cobi.13708] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2020] [Revised: 04/16/2020] [Accepted: 05/10/2020] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Social media data are being increasingly used in conservation science to study human-nature interactions. User-generated content, such as images, video, text, and audio, and the associated metadata can be used to assess such interactions. A number of social media platforms provide free access to user-generated social media content. However, similar to any research involving people, scientific investigations based on social media data require compliance with highest standards of data privacy and data protection, even when data are publicly available. Should social media data be misused, the risks to individual users' privacy and well-being can be substantial. We investigated the legal basis for using social media data while ensuring data subjects' rights through a case study based on the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation. The risks associated with using social media data in research include accidental and purposeful misidentification that has the potential to cause psychological or physical harm to an identified person. To collect, store, protect, share, and manage social media data in a way that prevents potential risks to users involved, one should minimize data, anonymize data, and follow strict data management procedure. Risk-based approaches, such as a data privacy impact assessment, can be used to identify and minimize privacy risks to social media users, to demonstrate accountability and to comply with data protection legislation. We recommend that conservation scientists carefully consider our recommendations in devising their research objectives so as to facilitate responsible use of social media data in conservation science research, for example, in conservation culturomics and investigations of illegal wildlife trade online.
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Affiliation(s)
- Enrico Di Minin
- Helsinki Lab of Interdisciplinary Conservation Science, Department of Geosciences and Geography, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, FI-00014, Finland
- Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science (HELSUS), University of Helsinki, Helsinki, FI-00014, Finland
- School of Life Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 4041, South Africa
| | - Christoph Fink
- Helsinki Lab of Interdisciplinary Conservation Science, Department of Geosciences and Geography, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, FI-00014, Finland
- Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science (HELSUS), University of Helsinki, Helsinki, FI-00014, Finland
| | - Anna Hausmann
- Helsinki Lab of Interdisciplinary Conservation Science, Department of Geosciences and Geography, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, FI-00014, Finland
- Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science (HELSUS), University of Helsinki, Helsinki, FI-00014, Finland
| | - Jens Kremer
- Faculty of Law, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, FI-00014, Finland
| | - Ritwik Kulkarni
- Helsinki Lab of Interdisciplinary Conservation Science, Department of Geosciences and Geography, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, FI-00014, Finland
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