Kozak, OlenaErkinaro, AinoHuttunen, Kaisa-LeenaOsypenko, LarysaKyiak, SvitlanaMatsai, NataliiaPeregrym, Mykyta2026-06-012026-06-012026Effective Data Collection Approaches for Citizen Science in Biodiversity Research / Olena Kozak, Aino Erkinaro, Kaisa-Leena Huttunen, Larysa Osypenko, Svitlana Kyiak, Nataliia Matsai, Mykyta Peregrym // Ecology and Evolution. - 2026. - Vol. 16, Issue 4. - Article number e73461. - https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.734612045-77582045-7758https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.73461https://ekmair.ukma.edu.ua/handle/123456789/39872Biodiversity underpins the stability of ecosystems and human well-being. However, it is rapidly declining globally, necessitatingrobust and scalable monitoring solutions. Citizen science has emerged as a powerful complement to traditional biodiversityresearch, enabling the collection of widespread data and fostering public engagement, particularly through digital platformssuch as iNaturalist and eBird. This study investigates global patterns in citizen science contributions to biodiversity monitoring,exploring the influence of socioeconomic factors, national biodiversity value, and platform-specific contributions on data gener-ation. Key strategies for optimizing public participation, enhancing data quality and coverage are identified through statisticalanalysis and three in-depth case studies from Finland and Ukraine. Our findings show that citizen science platforms now providea significant portion of biodiversity records in GBIF. Citizen science contributions to global biodiversity data are shaped more bya country's ecological uniqueness and biodiversity value than by its socioeconomic development, as effectiveness depends not juston user numbers or observations but also on biodiversity significance, platform origin, and user engagement. Combining digitalplatforms with targeted outreach, through social media, personal communication, and expert validation, emerges as a promisingstrategy to enhance data reliability and participant engagement. This mixed-methods approach proves especially effective incontexts with varying levels of digital access, biodiversity richness, and species monitoring needs.en-USdata collectiondigital platformsGBIFpublic engagementsocial mediaspecies observationsarticleArticle