Citizen science in pollinator monitoring: current approaches, challenges and recommendations

The current decline in pollinator abundance and diversity poses a significant threat to the natural world and the food and economic security of human societies. A major challenge faced by the scientific community in pollinator conservation is the lack of sufficient data. Citizen science has emerged as a promising avenue for addressing this issue. In this article, we present the global perspective of citizen science projects focused on pollinator monitoring. Our analysis reveals a notable underrepresentation of developing and tropical countries in citizen science‐driven data generation efforts. More than 70% of the listed studies are conducted in North America (n = 64), followed by Europe (n = 22). Together, Europe and North America account for 98.85% (n = 86) of all the projects listed. Thirty‐three percent of the projects are hosted on iNaturalist. Majority of projects focus on insects as pollinators, and 52% of the projects additionally document the identity of the pollinated plant species. We classified these projects into structured, semi‐structured, and unstructured categories based on their methodologies. Linear regression analysis was performed to evaluate the influence of various factors on the potential for generating outputs. The regression model explained 82% of the variance in document production (adjusted R 2 = 0.766, F 10,33 = 15.06, p < 0.001). Structured projects significantly contributed to document output (estimate = 12.44, p < 0.001), as did the inclusion of training (estimate = 6.89, p < 0.001). Fisher's exact test for count data also revealed a significant association for outputs generated with the structured methodology (p < 0.001). Additionally, we discuss the merits and drawbacks of different approaches and propose recommendations for subsequent research.