Contribution of internet-based tools in monitoring exotic parrots


Creative Commons License

Per E.

Turkish Journal of Forestry Türkiye Ormancılık Dergisi, cilt.20, sa.4, ss.466-473, 2019 (Hakemli Dergi)

Özet

Parrots have been seen in the wild in Turkey for more than 40 years. Parrots, especially seen in urban centers in metropolitans, have started to attract everyone's attention in recent years. This species is not native to Anatolia and Thrace. Monitoring the situation of this species in Turkey is a requirement since its situation is unknown. For this reason, an internet-based citizen science study of The Parakeet Census of Turkey was initiated in 2016. The design and technology tools provided by Google were utilized in this study. The form was created for the observers to input data. Data management system and tools have been developed to reduce the margin of error and facilitate species identification. Different visualization techniques were used. A total of 11 parrot species were identified with the participation of 1.068 observers from 29 provinces in three years. Population of exotic parrots are restricted to urban areas according to citizens' observation records. The expansion of the distribution area of parrots towards agricultural land is undesirable. A wide public support across the country is needed to obtain more knowledge of this situation of parrots. Therefore, this monitoring will continue to be further developed in the coming years. In the future internet-based citizen science studies in Turkey will spread further and the interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary studies will come to the fore.