Incorporating relevant stakeholder input into conservation decision making is fundamentally challenging yet critical for understanding both the status of, and human pressures on, natural resources. Collective intelligence (CI), defined as the ability of a group to accomplish difficult tasks more effectively than individuals, is a growing area of investigation, with implications for improving ecological decision making. However, many questions remain about the ways in which emerging internet technologies can be used to apply CI to natural resource management. We examined how synchronous social‐swarming technologies and asynchronous “wisdom of crowds” techniques can be used as potential conservation tools for estimating the status of natural resources exploited by humans. Using an example from a recreational fishery, we show that the CI of a group of anglers can be harnessed through cyber‐enabled technologies. We demonstrate how such approaches – as compared against empirical data – could provide surprisingly accurate estimates that align with formal scientific estimates. Finally, we offer a practical approach for using resource stakeholders to assist in managing ecosystems, especially in data‐poor situations.

中文翻译：

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利用利益相关者的集体智慧进行保护

将相关利益相关者的意见纳入保护决策从根本上来说具有挑战性，但对于理解自然资源的状况和人类对自然资源的压力至关重要。集体智慧（CI）是指一个群体比个人更有效地完成困难任务的能力，它是一个不断增长的研究领域，具有改善生态决策的意义。但是，关于新兴互联网技术如何将CI应用于自然资源管理的方式仍存在许多疑问。我们研究了如何将同步的社会涌动技术和异步的“人群智慧”技术用作潜在的保护工具，以估计人类开发的自然资源的状况。以休闲渔业为例，我们表明，可以通过网络技术来利用一组钓鱼者的CI。我们证明了这种方法（与经验数据相比）如何能够提供令人惊讶的准确估计，与正式的科学估计相一致。最后，我们提供了一种实用的方法来利用资源涉众来协助管理生态系统，尤其是在数据匮乏的情况下。