D
In the race to document the species on Earth before they go extinct, researchers and citizen scientists have collected billions of records. Today, most records of biodiversity are often in the form of photos, videos, and other digital records. Though they are useful for detecting shifts in the number and variety of species in an area, a new Stanford study has found that this type of record is not perfect.
“With the rise of technology it is easy for people to make observations of different species with the aid of a mobile application,” said Barnabas Daru, who is lead author of the study and assistant professor of biology in the Stanford School of Humanities and Sciences. “These observations now outnumber the primary data that comes from physical specimens (标本), and since we are increasingly using observational data to investigate how species are responding to global change, I wanted to know: Are they usable?”
Using a global dataset of 1.9 billion records of plants, insects, birds, and animals, Daru and his team tested how well these data represent actual global biodiversity patterns.
“We were particularly interested in exploring the aspects of sampling that tend to bias (使有偏差) data, like the greater likelihood of a citizen scientist to take a picture of a flowering plant instead of the grass right next to it,” said Daru.
Their study revealed that the large number of observation-only records did not lead to better global coverage. Moreover, these data are biased and favor certain regions, time periods, and species. This makes sense because the people who get observational biodiversity data on mobile devices are often citizen scientists recording their encounters with species in areas nearby. These data are also biased toward certain species with attractive or eye-catching features.
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What can we do with the imperfect datasets of biodiversity?
“Quite a lot,” Daru explained. “Biodiversity apps can use our study results to inform users of oversampled areas and lead them to places — and even species — that are not well-sampled. To improve the quality of observational data, biodiversity apps can also encourage users to have an expert confirm the identification of their uploaded image.”
32. What do we know about the records of species collected now?
A. They are becoming outdated. B. They are mostly in electronic form.
C. They are limited in number. D. They are used for public exhibition.
33. What does Daru’s study focus on?
A. Threatened species. B. Physical specimens.
C. Observational data. D. Mobile applications.
东127d有高司aac324456444cfe0公774e习技件网42b6广-西升472a优西限41b9软术费元科学慧途 34. What has led to the biases according to the study?
A. Mistakes in data analysis. B. Poor quality of uploaded pictures.
C. Improper way of sampling. D. Unreliable data collection devices.
35. What is Daru’s suggestion for biodiversity apps?
A. Review data from certain areas. B. Hire experts to check the records.
C. Confirm the identity of the users. D. Give guidance to citizen
scientists.
【答案】32. B 33. C 34. C 35. D
【解析】
【导语】本文是一篇说明文。文章主要介绍了斯坦福大学的一项研究发现，数字生物多样性记录存在偏见，建议应用程序引导公民科学家获取更好的数据。
【32题详解】
细节理解题。根据第一段“Today, most records of biodiversity are often in the form of photos, videos, and other digital records. (今天，大多数生物多样性的记录通常以照片、视频和其他数字记录的形式出现。)”可知，现在收集的物种记录大多是以电子形式存在的。故选B。
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【33题详解】
细节理解题。根据第二段“These observations now outnumber the primary data that comes from physical specimens (标本), and since we are increasingly using observational data to investigate how species are responding to global change, I wanted to know: Are they usable? (这些观察结果现在超过了来自物理标本的原始数据，而且由于我们越来越多地使用观察数据来研究物种如何应对全球变化，我想知道：它们有用吗?)”和第四段““We were particularly interested in exploring the aspects of sampling that tend to bias (使有偏差) data, like the greater likelihood of a citizen scientist to take a picture of a flowering plant instead of the grass right next to it,” said Daru. (Daru说“我们特别感兴趣的是探索取样容易产生数据偏差的方面，比如公民科学家更有可能拍摄开花植物的照片，而不是它旁边的草。”)”可知，Daru的研究聚焦于观察数据，即人们通过移动应用记录的物种观察数据。故选C。
【34题详解】
细节理解题。根据第四段““We were particularly interested in exploring the aspects of sampling that tend to bias (使有偏差) data, like the greater likelihood of a citizen scientist to take a picture of a flowering plant instead of the grass right next to it,” said Daru. (Daru说“我们特别感兴趣的是探索取样容易产生数据偏差的方面，比如公民科学家更有可能拍摄开花植物的照片，而不是它旁边的草。”)”以及第五段“This makes sense because the people who get observational biodiversity data on mobile devices are often citizen scientists recording their encounters with species in areas nearby.( 这是有道理的，因为在移动设备上获得观察生物多样性数据的人通常是公民科学家，他们记录了他们在附近地区与物种的接触。)”可知，导致数据偏差的原因是采样方式的不当。故选C。
【35题详解】
推理判断题。根据最后一段“Biodiversity apps can use our study results to inform users of oversampled areas and lead them to places — and even species — that are not well-sampled. To improve the quality of observational data, biodiversity apps can also encourage users to have an expert confirm the identification of their uploaded image. (生物多样性应用程序可以使用我们的研究结果来告知用户样本过多的地区，并将他们引导到样本不足的地方，甚至是物种。为了提高观测数据的质量，生物多样性应用程序还可以鼓励用户让专家确认他们上传的图像的身份。)”可知，Daru 建议生物多样性应用应该给公民科学家提供指导。故选D。
编辑：小徐