PS 24-79 - Well-intentioned initiatives hinder understanding biodiversity conservation: Cloaked iNaturalist information for threatened species

Abstract: To protect threatened species, iNaturalist, one of the most important repositories of geographic information on species’ geographic distributions, adds uncertainty to otherwise precise occurrence records of threatened species. This “clouded” or “cloaked” information is shared with other biodiversity repositories; although a mechanism exists by which to obtain unbiased information, it is complicated. We estimated potential distributions and climatic requirements for six amphibian species, using two sets of records: (i) a set of records at full accuracy and precision, and (ii) the same records but subjected to the iNaturalist protocol for introducing uncertainty into biodiversity records. Using six micro-endemic amphibians as a model, we showed that the inducing bias generates misleading estimates of geographic distributions and ecological requirements of threatened species. This effect accents the Wallacean and Hutchinsonian shortfalls, which already represent some of the greatest impediments to developing effective conservation strategies. The iNaturalist initiative will certainly aid in protecting some threatened species but its ignorance could prove harmful to others. We encourage researchers to consider the precision and accuracy of the occurrence data that they use in analyses, and iNaturalist to simplify procedures by which credible researchers can access the full-accuracy data.