Become a frog researcher! This is how your garden protects endangered species in East Tyrol!

Become a frog researcher! This is how your garden protects endangered species in East Tyrol!

A new research project calls on garden owners in East Tyrol to actively participate in recording amphibians and reptiles in their gardens. This project is part of the BIOM garden project, which is supported in Austria by GLOBAL 2000, the University of Vienna, the Vienna University of Technology, the Danube University Krems, the Nature Conservation Association and the Austrian Society for Herpetology. The aim of the project is to collect reports of amphibians and reptiles found in the country's over 2 million home gardens in order to obtain important data about these species and to close an existing data gap. Claudia Meixner, the project manager, emphasizes the need to know the habitats and occurrence of the species.

However, there is currently a problem: there are no reports from East Tyrol, which makes the developments and protection of these animal species more difficult. Input from local gardens could be crucial, as the area of ​​these gardens covers a total of around 1,850 square kilometers. To date, there is a lack of data on amphibians and reptiles that live in private gardens. Collaboration with the citizen science community should help close these gaps.

Call for help

The project expressly asks garden owners to help: Sightings of amphibians and reptiles can be reported via the platforms artenzahlen.at or inaturalist.org. Citizens have the opportunity to upload images, videos and audio recordings as well as describe their gardens in detail. After the report, the collected data is evaluated using the “BioCollect” tool and integrated into the Austrian Biodiversity Atlas.

The importance of each individual data set for biological protection cannot be underestimated. Users who enter their observations also agree to the storage of their personal data. In order to guarantee data protection, the processing of this data is based on the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). In detail, GLOBAL 2000 assumes responsibility for compliance with these data protection guidelines.

Data and data protection

In addition, the collected data is also processed by other project partners such as the University of Vienna or the Austrian Society for Herpetology. This information could be made available in the Austrian Biodiversity Atlas or, if necessary, to the Ministry of Climate Protection for National Biodiversity Monitoring.

The Austrian herpetofaunistic database, which has been collecting data on the distribution of amphibians and reptiles for 35 years, complements the BIOM garden project. Volunteers, so-called “citizen scientists,” actively support the collection of discovery data. These observations can also be reported online at www.herpetofauna.at.

Participation in such projects not only promotes awareness of local biodiversity, but also offers the opportunity to have a direct influence on the protection of endangered species through personal commitment.

A variety of materials are available for interested gardeners that provide detailed instructions for species identification, including a new field guide for the Lake Neusiedl area. To find out more about the project and get involved, visit the websites of GLOBAL 2000 and Citizen Science.