Learning Science during Teatime: Using a Citizen Science Approach to Collect Data on Litter Decomposition in Sweden and Austria

Taru Sandén, Heide Spiegel, Hannah Wenng, Michael Schwarz and Judith M. Sarneel
Additional contact information
Taru Sandén: Department for Soil Health and Plant Nutrition, Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety (AGES), Spargelfeldstrasse 191, 1220 Vienna, Austria
Heide Spiegel: Department for Soil Health and Plant Nutrition, Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety (AGES), Spargelfeldstrasse 191, 1220 Vienna, Austria
Hannah Wenng: Department for Soil Health and Plant Nutrition, Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety (AGES), Spargelfeldstrasse 191, 1220 Vienna, Austria
Michael Schwarz: Department for Data Management, Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety (AGES), Spargelfeldstrasse 191, 1220 Vienna, Austria
Judith M. Sarneel: Department of Ecology and Environmental Science, Umeå University, Tvistevägen 48, 901 87 Umeå, Sweden

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 18, 1-14

Abstract: The decay of organic material—litter decomposition—is a critical process for life on Earth and an essential part of the global carbon cycle. Yet, this basic process remains unknown to many citizens. The Tea Bag Index (TBI) measures decomposition in a standardized, measurable, achievable, climate-relevant, and time-relevant way by burying commercial tea bags in soil for three months and calculating proxies to characterize the decomposition process (expressed as decomposition rate (k) and stabilization factor (S)). We measured TBI at 8 cm soil depth with the help of school and farm citizen scientists in 2015 in Sweden and in 2016 in Austria. Questionnaires to the participating schools and farms enabled us to capture lessons learned from this participatory data collection. In total >5500 citizen scientists participated in the mass experiments, and approximately 50% of the tea bags sent out yielded successful results that fell well within previously reported ranges. The average decomposition rates ( k ) ranged from 0.008 to 0.012 g d −1 in Sweden and from 0.012 to 0.015 g d −1 in Austria. Stabilization factors (S) were up to four times higher in Sweden than Austria. Taking part in a global experiment was a great incentive for participants, and in future experiments the citizen scientists and TBI would benefit from having enhanced communication between the researchers and participants about the results gained.

Keywords: Tea Bag Index (TBI); participatory research; hands-on science experience; citizen scientists’ motivation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/18/7745/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/18/7745/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:18:p:7745-:d:415856

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().