scholarly journals Wikipedia, a Tool for Knowledge Dissemination on Invasive Species

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Quentin Groom ◽  
Vanessa Lozano ◽  
Sofie Meeus ◽  
Carlos Olmedo Castellanos
Keyword(s):  
Invasive Species ◽  
General Public ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Convention On Biological Diversity ◽  
English Edition ◽  
The Public ◽  
Global Issue

One of the most important issues for controlling the spread of invasive species is public awareness (Dehnen-Schmutz et al. 2018). Passively, the public are responsible for the spread of invasive species, for example by moving dirty boats from one water body to another. But they also actively spread invasive species by releasing them in the wild. The spread of some invasive species could be slowed or even halted if the general public were more aware of the risks. Furthermore, this is a global issue, not restricted to one country or language, and hence needs to be tackled at an international level. The Convention on Biological Diversity has a specific target to identify pathways of introduction and manage invasive species (Convention on Biological Diversity 2014). As part of this awareness-raising, the public needs information on how to identify invasive species, as well as how to know their regulatory status, distribution and transmission. They also need to be aware of how invasive species impact biodiversity, ecosystem services and health. This information needs to be up-to-date, reliable and unbiased, but also supported by evidence. Many information platforms exist on invasive species and new information is being generated all the time on this dynamic issue. However, pre-eminent among information sources on the internet is Wikipedia. Consistently ranked in the top ten of most visited websites, with more than 15 billion page views a month across 300 language editions, it is the go-to website on many subjects (Wikimedia 2019). Invasive species such as the zebra mussel and water hyacinth receive over 500 daily page views, just on the English edition alone. Wikipedia is arguably one of the largest citizen science projects, containing information on every area of science and connecting, through its citations, scientific literature with the general public. Wikipedia has been criticized about many aspects of its content and editorship, including its quality and neutrality (Kumar et al. 2016, Wagner et al. 2016, Hargittai and Shaw 2014). Nevertheless, its dominance in the provision of information cannot be ignored and addressing Wikipedia's problems by direct engagement might be more productive than ignoring it. Increasingly, different disciplines are engaging with Wikipedia for communication, recognizing that it can be a productive communication channel (Murray 2018). Invasive species are a global problem and tackling them is a global issue. We have been investigating the current status of invasive species information on Wikipedia, whether it contains relevant information on impacts and control, and whether the information is consistent across different language versions. We will present what we have found and make recommendations on what to improve and how we can engage with Wikipedia.

scholarly journals How is People's Awareness of “Biodiversity” Measured ?Using Sentiment Analysis and LDA Topic Modeling in the Twitter Discourse Space from 2010 to 2020

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shimon Ohtani
Keyword(s):  
Sentiment Analysis ◽  
Topic Modeling ◽  
Data Science ◽  
Latent Dirichlet Allocation ◽  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
Convention On Biological Diversity ◽  
Emotion Lexicon ◽  
Aichi Biodiversity Targets ◽  
Do So

Abstract The importance of biodiversity conservation is gradually being recognized worldwide, and 2020 was the final year of the Aichi Biodiversity Targets formulated at the 10th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP10) in 2010. Unfortunately, the majority of the targets were assessed as unachievable. While it is essential to measure public awareness of biodiversity when setting the post-2020 targets, it is also a difficult task to propose a method to do so. This study provides a diachronic exploration of the discourse on “biodiversity” from 2010 to 2020, using Twitter posts, in combination with sentiment analysis and topic modeling, which are commonly used in data science. Through the aggregation and comparison of n-grams, the visualization of eight types of emotional tendencies using the NRC emotion lexicon, the construction of topic models using Latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA), and the qualitative analysis of tweet texts based on these models, I was able to classify and analyze unstructured tweets in a meaningful way. The results revealed the evolution of words used with “biodiversity” on Twitter over the past decade, the emotional tendencies behind the contexts in which “biodiversity” has been used, and the approximate content of tweet texts that have constituted topics with distinctive characteristics. While the search for people's awareness through SNS analysis still has many limitations, it is undeniable that important suggestions can be obtained. In order to further refine the research method, it will be essential to improve the skills of analysts and accumulate research examples as well as to advance data science.

scholarly journals Citizen science in radiation research

2020 ◽  
Vol 239 ◽  
pp. 25001
Author(s):  
Cecilia Gustavsson ◽  
Erik Andersson-Sundén ◽  
Abigail Barker ◽  
Anders Hjalmarsson ◽  
Mattias Lantz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
General Public ◽  
Forest Type ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Land Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
Large Sets ◽  
Geological Processes ◽  
Science Question ◽  
The University ◽  
The Impact

A growing trend in science is that research institutions reach out to members of the public for participating in research. The reasons for outreach are many, spanning from the desire to collect and/or analyse large sets of data efficiently, to the idea of including the general public on a very fundamental level in science-making and ultimately decision-making. The presented project is curriculum-based and carried out in 240 lower secondary school classes (pupils of age 13-16). The task, as designed by the participating universities, is to collect mushrooms, soil and animal droppings from different parts of Sweden, do preliminary sample preparation and analyses and send the samples to the university institutions for radioactivity measurement. Behind the project is a desire to compare today’s levels of 137Cs with those deposited right after the Chernobyl accident in 1986, but also to study the exchange of caesium between organisms as well as the impacts of biological and geological processes on uptake and retention. The scientific outcome is a geodatabase with the 137Cs activity (Bq/m2) present in the Swedish environment, where radioactivity data can be linked to the species (fungi, competing species, animals foraging), forest type, land type, land use and other environmental factors. The science question is of interest to the general public as foraging for mushrooms, as well as spending recreational time in forests is widely popular in Sweden. In this article, we will discuss the current status of the project and the observations we have made about how well the public can participate in scientific research. Focus will be on organization of the project, such as logistics, preparation of supportive material, feedback and communication between researchers and schools. We will present observations about the impact the project has had on the participants, based on quantitative and qualitative evaluations.

scholarly journals Investigation of the Level of Public Awareness Outcome of COVID -19 Pandemic among Nigerians

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Azuonwu Obioma ◽  
◽  
Ihua Nnenna ◽  
Ahiakwo Christian ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
General Public ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
World Health ◽  
Global Public Health ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Government ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Associated Risk Factors ◽  
High Level

The COVID-19 pandemic has been considered to be very phenomenal as the period is marked with some unimaginable Health crises across the globe. COVID-19 has been a global Public Health threat widely affecting the entire populace irrespective of the class and sex across the region of the world. This has attracted lots of sensitization and interventions from the appropriate approved Health agencies such as World Health Organization, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and others to better inform the general public about the nature and mode of operandi of the pandemic virus in the absence of an accepted therapeutics and vaccines as at the time of this study. However, the media is flooded with information; not excluding some misconceptions about COVID-19 pandemic. These conflicting information are taken by the general public without reservation, hence, the study investigated the level of awareness of the public about COVID-19 virus, in relation to general knowledge, signs/symptoms, associated risk factors, transmission/spread and misconceptions. The study was delimited to Nigerians who had access to the internet. The study instrument was a self-structured questionnaire, validated by experts in this area. A Cronbach Alpha revealed a reliability index of 0.92. The online descriptive survey on the awareness level of the public, utilized Google form technique to create the questionnaire which was sent through emails and links to various social media and private platforms. Five research questions and hypothesis guided the study. A combination of primary and secondary data sources aided the study. Modified Likert scale (four points) was used and a criterion mean of 2.5 was used as the cut-off for either aware/agree (>2.5) or not aware/disagree (<2.5). Statistical Package for Social Science version 21 was used to estimate descriptive and inferential statistics at 5% alpha level for deduction. A response rate of 99.1% was obtained and a sample size of 347 was used. The study outcome suggests many interesting phenomena concerning public awareness about the COVID-19 pandemic. There is a high level of awareness of COVID-19. However, there is a need for the government and media platforms to curtail the spread of fake news and correct the misconceptions about COVID-19 among her citizens in the region.

Increasing or decreasing reading trend: an overview of the current status of the public libraries in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Rafi ◽  
Khurshid Ahmad ◽  
Zheng Jian Ming
Keyword(s):  
General Education ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
Public Libraries ◽  
Public Library ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Neolithic Period ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Government

PurposeAs the human race moved from the Paleolithic to the current phases of the Neolithic period, the learning process developed from inscriptions on stones to clay tablets, from papyrus to papers and, ultimately, to digital technology. From ancient times to the present, public libraries have become open universities that are more democratic in the provision of educational and information services and the preservation of cultural heritage, regardless of gender and belief. This study attempts to understand reading trends and the use of citizens’ resources in public libraries in the age of technology as an open university.Design/methodology/approachThe data for this study on regular visitors, permanent library members, and information on the library inventory was collected from each public library administration through personal visits and interviews. In addition, data on regional population and literacy rates were collected from the Government of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Provincial Bureau of Statistics. The authors used descriptive statistics to analyze data for comparative studies.FindingsThe results show that daily visitors, regular library members and their use of library resources are decreasing compared to the literacy rate in each district. It was also concluded that, due to a lack of education and training in the area of information and digital literacy, the accessed database resources are not used properly. Moreover, each densely populated district relies on a single public library to meet general education and information needs.Practical implicationsThe results of this study will help the government expand the network of public libraries at the union council level with competent working staff to increase general motivation to improve reading and resource usage trends. Given the current literacy and population growth in each district, the law on the public library can also be amended and implemented to support the existing library system better and create more libraries in the public interest.Originality/valueThis study was conducted for the first time to determine the current state of public libraries in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and to help public library authorities improve their existing public library service status based on the results.

scholarly journals The 2010 challenge: data availability, information needs and extraterrestrial insights

2005 ◽  
Vol 360 (1454) ◽  
pp. 221-228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Balmford ◽  
Peter Crane ◽  
Andy Dobson ◽  
Rhys E Green ◽  
Georgina M Mace
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Biodiversity Loss ◽  
Data Availability ◽  
Convention On Biological Diversity ◽  
Earth System ◽  
Human Welfare ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Status

At the 2002 Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development, 190 countries endorsed a commitment to achieve, by 2010, a significant reduction of the current rate of biodiversity loss at the global, regional and national levels. A wide range of approaches is available to the monitoring of progress towards this objective. The strengths and weaknesses of many of these approaches are considered, with special attention being given to the proposed and existing indicators described in the other papers in this issue. Recommendations are made about the development of indicators. Most existing and proposed indicators use data collected for other purposes, which may be unrepresentative. In the short term, much remains to be done in expanding the databases and improving the statistical techniques that underpin these indicators to minimize potential biases. In the longer term, indicators based on unrepresentative data should be replaced with equivalents based on carefully designed sampling programmes. Many proposed and existing indicators do not connect clearly with human welfare and they are unlikely to engage the interest of governments, businesses and the public until they do so. The extent to which the indicators already proposed by parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity are sufficient is explored by reference to the advice an imaginary scientific consultant from another planet might give. This exercise reveals that the range of taxa and biomes covered by existing indicators is incomplete compared with the knowledge we need to protect our interests. More fundamentally, our understanding of the mechanisms linking together the status of biodiversity, Earth system processes, human decisions and actions, and ecosystem services impacting human welfare is still too crude to allow us to infer reliably that actions taken to conserve biodiversity and protect ecosystem services are well chosen and effectively implemented. The involvement of social and Earth system scientists, as well as biologists, in collaborative research programmes to build and parameterize models of the Earth system to elucidate these mechanisms is a high priority.

scholarly journals A More Precise Living Planet Index (LPI)

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine Hébert
Keyword(s):  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Population Trends ◽  
Convention On Biological Diversity ◽  
The Public ◽  
Major Interest ◽  
Biodiversity Change ◽  
Global Biodiversity

Reliably measuring biodiversity change is of major interest both ecologically and politically. Thoroughly testing the reliability of biodiversity metrics, meaning their ability to present a precise, accurate, and unbiased measurement of biodiversity trends, is vital to avoid misinforming decision makers when selecting management strategies, and misleading the public’s view of biodiversity issues. Developed by Loh et al. (2005), the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), and the Zoological Society of London, the Living Planet Index (LPI) measures the overall global trend in vertebrate abundances since 1970 (Loh et al. 2005). The LPI has become a popular indicator of global biodiversity change due to its intuitive association with biodiversity targets, which makes it a powerful tool to communicate the status of biodiversity to the public, and to decision makers tasked with the management of biodiversity (Collen et al. 2009). Importantly, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) selected the LPI as one of four indices approved to monitor progress towards the Aichi Biodiversity Targets (CBD 2016). The LPI was also selected as an Essential Biodiversity Variable, which are essential tools for the harmonized study, reporting, and management of biodiversity change worldwide (Pereira et al. 2013). Due to the LPI’s pivotal role in policy, conservation, and communication, ensuring its reliability as a biodiversity change metric is crucial for both biodiversity science and management at a global scale. Despite the LPI’s influence on the global stage of biodiversity management, the index’s reliability as a measure of biodiversity loss has not been rigorously tested for limitations. The LPI’s capacity to accurately estimate global population trends depends in part on undetected errors in its supporting data, including process errors (i.e. random population fluctuations), and observation errors (i.e. poor detectability of certain species) (Clark and Bjørnstad 2004, Gotelli and Colwell 2001, Dennis et al. 2006, Buckland et al. 2004). These errors are often undocumented and cannot be directly assessed, making it difficult to determine their impact on LPI trends. Interpretation of an LPI trend also heavily relies on its precision, which establishes the uncertainty surrounding the estimated magnitude and direction of biodiversity change. If uncertainty is high, the LPI is a less reliable measure of biodiversity change, and must be interpreted with greater caution when communicating biodiversity trends to the public and when choosing management strategies (Hui et al. 2008). The LPI’s confidence interval progressively widens as uncertainty accumulates over time from the baseline in 1970 (WWF 2018, McRae et al. 2017, Collen et al. 2009). This growing imprecision could impede our ability to confidently interpret both the direction and magnitude of biodiversity change, which has serious implications for monitoring progress towards global biodiversity targets, and for maintaining public engagement in biodiversity issues. Here, we suggest a methodological approach to address this growing uncertainty, in order to improve the reliability of the LPI. We propose a methodology for integrating the covariation between population trends into the computation of the LPI, in order to bolster confidence in related trends and ultimately decrease imprecision. Rather than assuming all population trends are varying in isolation, we explicitly identify covariation between population trends, and weight populations according to this covariation. We then compare the confidence intervals of the reported LPI trend to the trend obtained using our proposed methodology, and consider the potential political, ecological, and communicational implications of this approach on the interpretation of biodiversity metrics.

scholarly journals Aspek Yuridis Jual Beli Surat Keterangan Sakit melalui E-Commerce

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 62-68
Author(s):  
Dinda Dinanti ◽  
Muthia Sakti
Keyword(s):  
General Public ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
Criminal Code ◽  
The Public ◽  
Normative Approach ◽  
Approach Method ◽  
Legal Guidelines ◽  
Research Stage

In Indonesia, the development of services to produce fake documents that are in demand are sought after by the general public. One of them is buying and selling fake sick letters. At the research stage, the objective is to find out the responsibility of the perpetrators of the crime and efforts to counter the falsification of the sick letters which are traded through e-commerce. The juridical normative approach method emphasizes norms or rules so that the problem will be reviewed and analyzed with applicable legal guidelines and relating to the sale and purchase of fake sick letters through e-commerce in Indonesia. The crime of falsifying a sick letter being traded has entered the realm of criminal fraud. Which, has been regulated in Article 378 of the Criminal Code with a maximum imprisonment of 4 years and ITE Law Article 28 paragraph 1 threat of a maximum imprisonment of 6 years and / or a maximum fine of Rp 1,000,000,000. Efforts to overcome it through support from all elements. Even the public awareness of the harm caused when using these fake letters. Law enforcers cracked down on those who carried out the sale and purchase of the letter so that no one would dare to try to buy and sell the fake sick letter again.

scholarly journals How is People's Awareness of “Biodiversity” Measured ?Using Sentiment Analysis and LDA Topic Modeling in the Twitter Discourse Space from 2010 to 2020

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shimon Ohtani
Keyword(s):  
Sentiment Analysis ◽  
Topic Modeling ◽  
Data Science ◽  
Latent Dirichlet Allocation ◽  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
Convention On Biological Diversity ◽  
Emotion Lexicon ◽  
Aichi Biodiversity Targets ◽  
Do So

Abstract The importance of biodiversity conservation is gradually being recognized worldwide, and 2020 was the final year of the Aichi Biodiversity Targets formulated at the 10th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP10) in 2010. Unfortunately, the majority of the targets were assessed as unachievable. While it is essential to measure public awareness of biodiversity when setting the post-2020 targets, it is also a difficult task to propose a method to do so. This study provides a diachronic exploration of the discourse on “biodiversity” from 2010 to 2020, using Twitter posts, in combination with sentiment analysis and topic modeling, which are commonly used in data science. Through the aggregation and comparison of n-grams, the visualization of eight types of emotional tendencies using the NRC emotion lexicon, the construction of topic models using Latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA), and the qualitative analysis of tweet texts based on these models, I was able to classify and analyze unstructured tweets in a meaningful way. The results revealed the evolution of words used with “biodiversity” on Twitter over the past decade, the emotional tendencies behind the contexts in which “biodiversity” has been used, and the approximate content of tweet texts that have constituted topics with distinctive characteristics. While the search for people's awareness through SNS analysis still has many limitations, it is undeniable that important suggestions can be obtained. In order to further refine the research method, it will be essential to improve the skills of analysts and accumulate research examples as well as to advance data science.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document