‘Citizen Science’ Helps Unlock Colombian Hummingbird Mystery

Colombian biologists leveraged hundreds of observations by non-scientists to build a complete picture of the hummingbird’s temporal and spatial range.

Colombia is a global deforestation hotspot and home to hundreds of bird species lose habitat This makes it extremely important to be able to take snapshots of different species, especially those that move between different altitudes and landscapes.

Cristina Rueda-UribeA PhD candidate at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, she explains that her research focuses on hummingbirds in the alpine ecosystems of elfin forests and alpine meadows (páramos) in the northern Andes.

“I’m particularly interested in these animals because they play such an important role as plant pollinators, moving across elevations and ecosystems following the pulse of flowering. “Because I know that,” she says. This is due not only to the lack of tracking of such small animals, but also to the lack of long-term monitoring of biodiversity processes in the region. ”

In a research paper called Citizen science data reveals altitudinal migration and seasonal ecosystem use by Andean hummingbirds and was published in a magazine ecography, Thanks to “citizen science” data, Rueda Uribe and her co-authors inferred the movements of the Andean hummingbird by calculating changes in its range (including altitude) and ecosystem.

Rueda-Uribe said “citizen science” data is generated by people publishing records of species they see and hear in public databases, which helps scientists and which helps non-scientists naturally He explains that it allows them to be more involved.

“The power of these data lies in the fact that their use is becoming increasingly common, so millions of data points covering various time periods, across large spatial scales, are readily available. “Now we can do it. This is far beyond what scientists can do,” she says. Always collect, even if you spend the world’s largest research budget. ”

Winding Road

Rueda Uribe was born in Bogotá, Colombia, but her family moved to Brazil when she was young, spending seven years traversing the country from Iguazu Falls in the south to the flooded rainforests of the Amazon. North.

She ended up continuing to study biology as an undergraduate, but didn’t immediately feel a calling to research.

“As an undergraduate biology student, I was very happy with every class and field trip, but then I realized that there was a clear connection between a career as a researcher and making a real impact in the real world. I was deterred from pursuing a career in academia because I couldn’t see the potential to make a difference in people’s everyday lives.”

Rueda Uribe said she worked in science communication and science education until she met researchers at the Alexander von Humboldt Institute and was inspired to return to research.

“I received a scholarship to complete my master’s degree at Lund University (Sweden) and then my PhD at the University of Aberdeen (Scotland),” she says.

Rueda Uribe says researchers based in the Global South are being asked to do more with less. Researchers in the Global North continue to face social, political, and economic challenges that they do not have to deal with. They often have to overcome language barriers to get their work noticed.

“From a biodiversity research perspective, this power gap is like a huge wall that we have built for ourselves, allowing different perspectives and It prevents us from taking advantage of solutions,” she said, adding that she is always thinking about herself. She plays a young female researcher from Latin America.

“It’s hard to know what to do to change the system,” Rueda Uribe said. “But for now, I believe my most important responsibility is to support colleagues and students who may be facing similar or more serious challenges.”