Citizen Science in action: tracking species of (European) Union concern through the “AilantItaly” project

Federica Compagnone

Marco Varricchione

1,2

Angela Stanisci

1,2

Leonardo Ancillotto

2,3

Claudia Angiolini

2,4

Domenico Sergio Antonacci

Emilio Badalamenti

2,6

Simonetta Bagella

2,7

Debora Barbato

2,8

Francesco Boscutti

2,9

Giuseppe Brundu

2,10

Thomas Campagnaro

2,11

Laura Celesti-Grapow

2,12

Sandra Citterio

2,13

Mirko Di Febbraro

Michele Finizio

Michele Innangi

Tommaso La Mantia

2,6

Vanessa Lozano

2,10

Lara Maistrello

2,14

Alessandro Mariggiò

Chiara Montagnani

2,13

Emiliano Mori

2,3

Michele Mugnai

Maria Petrillo

Lorenzo Pinzani

Stefano Raimondi

Giovanni Riveccio

Nicole Sebesta

Giacomo Trotta

Franziska Zemmer

Maria Laura Carranza

1,2

Department of Biosciences and Territory, EnviXLab, University of Molise, Contrada Fonte Lappone, Pesche, (IS) - 86090, Italy

, National Biodiversity Future Center (NBFC), Piazza Marina 61, Palermo, - 90133, Italy

National Research Council (CNR), Institute for the Research on Terrestrial Ecosystems (IRET), Via Madonna del Piano 10, Sesto Fiorentino, (FI) - 50019, Italy

Department of Life Sciences, University of Siena, Via Pier Andrea Mattioli 4, Siena, - 53100, Italy

, Gargano Natour APS, Contrada Pozzocavo, San Giovanni Rotondo, (FG) - 71013, Italy

Department of Agricultural, Food and Forest Sciences, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Palermo, - 90128, Italy

Department of Chemical, Physical, Mathematical and Natural Sciences, University of Sassari, Via Piandanna 4, Sassari, - 07100, Italy

Dipartimento di Scienze Fisiche, della Terra e dell’Ambiente, Università di Siena, Via Mattioli 4, Siena, - 53100, Italy

Department of Agricultural, Food, Environmental and Animal Sciences (DI4A), University of Udine, Via delle Scienze 206, Udine, - 33100, Italy

Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Sassari, Viale Italia 39/A, Sassari, - 07100, Italy

Department of Land, Environment, Agriculture and Forestry, Università degli Studi di Padova, Viale dell’Università 16, Legnaro, (PD) - 35020, Italy

Department of Environmental Biology, Sapienza University, Piazzale Moro 5, Roma, - 00185, Italy

Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Milano-Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza 1, Milano, - 20126, Italy

Department of Life Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Via G. Amendola 2, Reggio Emilia, - 42122, Italy

, Riserve Naturali Regionali Orientate del Litorale Tarantino Orientale, Via Fra N. Margarito 1, Manduria, (TA) - 74024, Italy

Department of Biology, University of Florence, Via G. La Pira 4, Firenze, - I-50121, Italy

Department of Science, University of Roma Tre, Viale G. Marconi 446, Roma, - 00146, Italy

Direzione Nazionale Ufficio Aree Protette e Biodiversità, Legambiente Nazionale APS, Via Salaria 403, Roma, - 00199, Italy

Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Turin, Viale Mattioli 25, Torino, - 10125, Italy

, Independent scholar, Via Franz von Fenner, 23, Cortaccia sulla Strada del Vino, (BZ) - 39040, Italy

In recent years, Citizen Science (CS) has become increasingly important for monitoring biodiversity and its pressures and threats, such as invasive alien species. In the European, some of the invasive alien species with the greatest impact on biodiversity are listed under the Regulation (EU) No. 1143/2014, which requires all Member States to conduct management actions, including continuous monitoring. This monitoring is essential to identify new invasion foci (early warning) for potential eradication, as well as heavily invaded areas, where management and containment measures must be implemented.

This study aims to implement a national-scale CS initiative (AilantItaly) to enhance knowledge on the ecology, distribution, and spread of the invasive species Ailanthus altissima (Mill.) Swingle in Italy. Through active public engagement and collaboration among 15 research institutions and organizations, the project, launched within the framework of the TESO working group (Tavolo ESOtiche – UniMiB and UniMoRe) under the National Biodiversity Future Center (NBFC), seeks to collect large-scale occurrence data to support early detection, detailed mapping and modelling, and the development of targeted management strategies. Data are collected and shared through a dedicated project, AilantItaly, launched on March 15th, 2025, on the iNaturalist platform (https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/ailantitaly), a global biodiversity data repository. The initiative promotes active and structured monitoring in urban, natural, and semi-natural environments. By comparing Ailanthus altissima records on iNaturalist before and after the launch of AilantItaly, we explored and provided evidence of: (i) the effectiveness of CS in enhancing spatial and ecological knowledge of the target species at a national scale in Italy, and (ii) the identification of geographic areas with higher susceptibility to invasion, based on citizen-contributed data.

Combining scientific rigour with participation, the project fosters dialogue between academia and society, showcasing how CS contributes to addressing invasive species challenges.

Ecologia ed educazione alla sostenibilità