Citizen science data—i.e., data collected by voluntarily engaged members of the public—are playing an increasingly important role in biodiversity monitoring, in environmental management, and in biodiversity research. The number of citizen science projects continues to grow. The data generated by these projects hold great potential to fill spatial and temporal gaps in official monitoring and scientific applications. However, this potential has not yet been fully realized, particularly in the field of aquatic habitats such as rivers, lakes, or coastal areas.

To address this, we aim to create a foundation through intensive exchange between citizen science projects, conservation stakeholders, authorities, and researchers, enabling the archiving, curation, harmonization, and FAIR publication of existing data in accordance with scientific data standards. The goal is to facilitate effective integration of citizen science data with other data sources.

The project “Integration of Citizen Science Data for Monitoring Aquatic Habitats” is being carried out within the framework of the NFDI4Biodiversity Topic Tables for which the first call was issued in 2025—a collaborative format that connects stakeholders across the biodiversity community to jointly develop solutions in research data management. Learn more about the Topic Tables here.

• Assessment of the potential of recreational fishing data for biodiversity monitoring in aquatic habitats
• Assessment of the potential of data from additional citizen science projects for biodiversity monitoring in aquatic habitats
• Evaluation of the potential and limitations of integrating citizen science data with governmental datasets for aquatic biodiversity monitoring
• Development of a strategy for the comprehensive integration of citizen science data into aquatic biodiversity monitoring
• Scientific publication (preferably in an international peer-reviewed journal)

• Conducting a workshop on fishing data
• Conducting a workshop on citizen science data
• Conducting a workshop on governmental data
• Regular online meetings for exchange and coordination
• Collaborative work on a strategy document
• Collaborative work on a joint publication

• Status: Active
• Start: 01/2026
• Expected End: 07/2027

Project Lead/Contact Person

• Martin Friedrichs-Manthey, Friedrich Schiller University Jena/German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv): martin.friedrichs-manthey@idiv.de

Additional Contributors

The Topic Table team also includes staff from the following institutions:

• Friedrich Schiller University Jena/Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ)/German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv)
• German Environment Agency/Federal-State Working Group on Water (LAWA)
• National Centre for Environmental and Nature Conservation Information at the German Environment Agency
• German Fishing Association (DAFV)
• Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB)
• German Ichthyological Society
• National Biodiversity Monitoring Centre (NMZB)
• NABU Nature Conservation Divers
• Institute of Inland Fisheries e.V. (IfB)
• Thünen Institute of Fisheries Ecology

Anyone interested in the topics addressed in this Topic Table is warmly invited to get in touch with Martin Friedrichs-Manthey (see contact above).

The NFDI4Biodiversity Topic Tables provide a collaborative space for the biodiversity community to advance key topics in research data management. Based on an open call, four topics were selected for 2026, which are integrated into the consortium’s work program and supported organizationally. NFDI4Biodiversity provides the structural framework, facilitates professional networking, and ensures that results are made visible and can be sustainably developed further.

The aim is to bring together expertise, align existing approaches, and produce tangible outputs—such as white papers, guidelines, or roadmaps. The resulting contributions support practical work with biodiversity data, promote shared standards, and strengthen reliable, interoperable data use within the community.

Topic Table projects are generally designed to run for one year. To stay informed about upcoming calls, feel free to subscribe to our community mailing list and follow us on LinkedIn.

An overview of all current Topic Tables can be found here.