{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,7]],"date-time":"2026-10-07T18:01:33Z","timestamp":1791396093487,"version":"4.3.3"},"reference-count":39,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"10","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,7]],"date-time":"2026-10-07T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1791331200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100003593","name":"Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cient\u00edfico e Tecnol\u00f3gico","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["302961\/2021-6"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["302961\/2021-6"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100003593","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100003593","name":"Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cient\u00edfico e Tecnol\u00f3gico","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["308192\/2021-4"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["308192\/2021-4"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100003593","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100004586","name":"Funda\u00e7\u00e3o Carlos Chagas Filho de Amparo \u00e0 Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["E-26\/203.930\/2024"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["E-26\/203.930\/2024"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004586","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100004586","name":"Funda\u00e7\u00e3o Carlos Chagas Filho de Amparo \u00e0 Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["E26\/204.077\/2024"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["E26\/204.077\/2024"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004586","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS One"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The Atlantic Forest is an endangered biome in Brazil with only 15% of its area remaining. Although it is reported that it has a high biodiversity and many endemic species, the biological composition of its territory remains largely unknown. Citizen science can speed up the description of the living organisms present in this biome and at the same time increase citizens\u2019 perception of the importance of the conservation of this endangered tropical ecosystem. Here, we used citizen science resources to evaluate the biodiversity of an Atlantic Forest area in southeast Brazil. During a 6 year-period, we photographed plants, animals and fungi specimens using different approaches depending on the behavior and characteristics of each organism. We used easy-to-use mobile phones, night vision cameras, high-quality photographic cameras equipped with tele-macro lenses, and citizen science AI applications, such as iNaturalist and Merlin. We analyzed amphibians, arachnids, birds, fungi, insects, mammals, mollusks, plants, reptiles and crustaceans. We identified 492 species, some of which are threatened (4 plants, 4 mammals, 3 birds, and 1 reptile) according to the IUCN Red List categories of threatened species. We also identified some endemics and introduced species. Insects and plants were by far the groups with the highest numbers of species registered, followed by birds, fungi and arachnids. Birds were the group with the highest numbers of observations, followed by insects and plants. Amphibians were the group with more endemic species, with 60% of their species endemic in Brazil. Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths) correspond to 50% of the insect species found in the area. The collection of our data demonstrates that it is easily feasible to use a technological approach to register and identify the species found in small properties and we provide an easy guide for beginners. To our knowledge this is the first description of the biodiversity across several taxonomic categories of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest using an integrated approach combining digital observations, AI-assisted species identification, and citizen-science community validation. Our data could have an impact on the engagement of citizens on the management and conservation of Atlantic Forest sustainability in Brazil and in other parts of the globe.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0360070","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,7]],"date-time":"2026-10-07T17:39:16Z","timestamp":1791394756000},"page":"e0360070","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Integrating images, sounds, citizen science and AI to assess the biodiversity of the Atlantic Forest of Brazil"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"21","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9037-0085","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Manoel Luis","family":"Costa","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Instituto de Ci\u00eancias Biom\u00e9dicas, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro","place":["Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil"]},{"name":"Col\u00e9gio Brasileiro de Altos Estudos, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro","place":["Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8897-8526","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Claudia","family":"Mermelstein","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Instituto de Ci\u00eancias Biom\u00e9dicas, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro","place":["Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil"]},{"name":"Col\u00e9gio Brasileiro de Altos Estudos, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro","place":["Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,7]]},"reference":[{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0360070.ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"192","DOI":"10.1641\/B580303","article-title":"Citizen science: Can volunteers do real research?","volume":"58","author":"JP Cohn","year":"2008","journal-title":"BioScience"},{"key":"pone.0360070.ref002","volume-title":"The rightful place of science: Citizen science","author":"D Cavalier","year":"2016"},{"key":"pone.0360070.ref003","volume-title":"Two Meanings of Citizen Science","author":"CB Cooper","year":"2016"},{"key":"pone.0360070.ref004","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.4337\/9781802207835.00021","article-title":"The transdisciplinary potential of citizen science.","volume-title":"Handbook of Transdisciplinarity: Global Perspectives","author":"A Albert","year":"2023"},{"key":"pone.0360070.ref005","first-page":"23","article-title":"Photography and biodiversity awareness: The use of images in conservation","volume":"14","year":"2024","journal-title":"Metode Sci Stud J"},{"key":"pone.0360070.ref006","first-page":"208","article-title":"From hotspot to hopespot: An opportunity for the Brazilian Atlantic Forest","volume":"16","author":"CL Rezende","year":"2018","journal-title":"Perspect Ecol Conserv"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0360070.ref007","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"6347","DOI":"10.1038\/s41467-020-20217-w","article-title":"The erosion of biodiversity and biomass in the Atlantic Forest biodiversity hotspot","volume":"11","author":"RAF de Lima","year":"2020","journal-title":"Nat Commun"},{"key":"pone.0360070.ref008","first-page":"193","article-title":"Dokumentation der f\u00fcnf bekannten Lebendaufnahmen vom Quagga, Equus quagga quagga Gmelin, 1788 (Mammalia, Perissodactyla, Equidae)","volume":"17","author":"W Huber","year":"1994","journal-title":"Spixiana"},{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0360070.ref009","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"159","DOI":"10.1080\/17514517.2021.1920178","article-title":"Ottomar Ansch\u00fctz\u2019s animal photography through the lens of darwinism","volume":"14","author":"S Mlodzianowski","year":"2021","journal-title":"Photogr Cult"},{"key":"pone.0360070.ref010","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"953","DOI":"10.1093\/biosci\/biaf104","article-title":"iNaturalist accelerates biodiversity research","volume":"75","author":"BM Mason","year":"2025","journal-title":"Bioscience"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0360070.ref011","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"7","DOI":"10.1186\/s13750-023-00296-0","article-title":"Climate change and the global redistribution of biodiversity: Substantial variation in empirical support for expected range shifts","volume":"12","author":"MA Rubenstein","year":"2023","journal-title":"Environ Evid"},{"key":"pone.0360070.ref012","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"280","DOI":"10.1016\/j.biocon.2016.09.004","article-title":"Contribution of citizen science towards international biodiversity monitoring","volume":"213","author":"M Chandler","year":"2017","journal-title":"Biol 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Implications for conservation","volume":"142","author":"MC Ribeiro","year":"2009","journal-title":"Biol Conserv"},{"issue":"7","key":"pone.0360070.ref017","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"533","DOI":"10.1093\/biosci\/biad051","article-title":"Identifying the identifiers: How iNaturalist facilitates collaborative, research-relevant data generation and why it matters for biodiversity science","volume":"73","author":"CJ Campbell","year":"2023","journal-title":"BioScience"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0360070.ref018","article-title":"Show me the image: A systematic analysis on how results are represented in publications from different fields of biomedical and biological research","volume":"97","author":"MPC Cibreiros","year":"2025","journal-title":"An Acad Bras Cienc"},{"key":"pone.0360070.ref019","first-page":"54","article-title":"The popularity of birding is still growing","volume":"34","author":"HK Cordell","year":"2002","journal-title":"Birding"},{"key":"pone.0360070.ref020","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.3897\/zoologia.34.e13728","article-title":"Historical knowledge, richness and relative representativeness of the avifauna of the largest native urban rainforest in the world","volume":"34","author":"VR Tonetti","year":"2017","journal-title":"Zoologia"},{"issue":"7","key":"pone.0360070.ref021","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1514","DOI":"10.1111\/j.0014-3820.2002.tb01462.x","article-title":"Reconstructing the evolution of complex bird song in the oropendolas","volume":"56","author":"JJ Price","year":"2002","journal-title":"Evolution"},{"issue":"4","key":"pone.0360070.ref022","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"889","DOI":"10.1111\/brv.12591","article-title":"Mixed company: A framework for understanding the composition and organization of mixed-species animal groups","volume":"95","author":"E Goodale","year":"2020","journal-title":"Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc"},{"issue":"197","key":"pone.0360070.ref023","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"175","DOI":"10.57065\/shilap.203","article-title":"Communities of Lepidoptera along an elevational gradient in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest (Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea)","volume":"50","author":"LR Vieira","year":"2022","journal-title":"SHILAP Revta lepid"},{"key":"pone.0360070.ref024","article-title":"Altitudinal variation in butterfly community associated with climate and vegetation","volume":"92","author":"ACV Pires","year":"2020","journal-title":"An Acad Bras Cienc"},{"key":"pone.0360070.ref025","article-title":"The voyage of the beagle. London: Everyman; 1906","volume-title":"Darwin C. Journal of researches into the natural history and geology of the countries visited during the voyage of H.M.S. Beagle round the world","author":"C Darwin","year":"1845","edition":"2"},{"key":"pone.0360070.ref026","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"293","DOI":"10.4257\/oeco.2025.2904.02","article-title":"Mam\u00edferos de m\u00e9dio e grande porte do Parque Natural Municipal Montanhas de Teres\u00f3polis, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil","volume":"29","author":"VG Cunha","year":"2025","journal-title":"Oecologia Australis"},{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0360070.ref027","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"156","DOI":"10.1590\/S0073-47212011000200002","article-title":"Cytogenetic study in natural hybrids of Callithrix (Callitrichidae: Primates) in the Atlantic forest of the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil","volume":"101","author":"DM Nogueira","year":"2011","journal-title":"Iheringia, S\u00e9r Zool"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0360070.ref028","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.2981\/wlb.00607","article-title":"Towards more compassionate wildlife research through the 3Rs principles: Moving from invasive to non-invasive methods","volume":"2020","author":"MA Zemanova","year":"2020","journal-title":"Wildlife Biol"},{"issue":"02","key":"pone.0360070.ref029","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"191","DOI":"10.4257\/oeco.2019.2302.02","article-title":"Mam\u00edferos do Parque Nacional da Serra dos \u00d3rg\u00e3os: Atualiza\u00e7\u00e3o da Lista de Esp\u00e9cies e Implica\u00e7\u00f5es Para a Conserva\u00e7\u00e3o","volume":"23","author":"C Cronemberger","year":"2019","journal-title":"Oecol Aust"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0360070.ref030","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"51","DOI":"10.1159\/000327320","article-title":"All rodents are not the same: A modern synthesis of cortical organization","volume":"78","author":"L Krubitzer","year":"2011","journal-title":"Brain Behav Evol"},{"issue":"12","key":"pone.0360070.ref031","article-title":"The invisible species: Big data unveil coverage gaps in the Atlantic Forest Hotspot","volume":"30","author":"WCF Trindade","year":"2024","journal-title":"Diversity and Distributions"},{"issue":"4","key":"pone.0360070.ref032","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0125629","article-title":"Are we filling the data void? An assessment of the amount and extent of plant collection records and census data available for tropical South America","volume":"10","author":"K Feeley","year":"2015","journal-title":"PLoS One"},{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0360070.ref033","article-title":"Ecological and social pressures influence diel activity patterns in wild Tibetan Macaques","volume":"87","author":"P-P Yang","year":"2025","journal-title":"Am J Primatol"},{"key":"pone.0360070.ref034","first-page":"2594","article-title":"Tail use by Didelphis albiventris (Didelphimorphia-Didelphidae) to carry vegetable material in a pine grove in southeastern Brazil","volume":"15","author":"LR Pereira","year":"2016","journal-title":"Curr Ethol"},{"issue":"1838","key":"pone.0360070.ref035","first-page":"20161334","article-title":"Diversification rates and species richness across the Tree of Life","volume":"283","author":"JP Scholl","year":"2016","journal-title":"Proc Biol Sci"},{"issue":"8","key":"pone.0360070.ref036","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"202108","DOI":"10.1098\/rsos.202108","article-title":"Contours of citizen science: A vignette study","volume":"8","author":"M Haklay","year":"2021","journal-title":"R Soc Open Sci"},{"key":"pone.0360070.ref037","volume-title":"When citizen science meets science policy","author":"EB. Kennedy","year":"2016"},{"issue":"7","key":"pone.0360070.ref038","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pbio.3000736","article-title":"Principles for creating a single authoritative list of the world\u2019s species","volume":"18","author":"ST Garnett","year":"2020","journal-title":"PLoS Biol"},{"key":"pone.0360070.ref039","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.3897\/BDJ.13.e153402","article-title":"Bridging citizen science and expert surveys in urban biodiversity monitoring: Insights from insect diversity in Macao","volume":"13","author":"K Zheng","year":"2025","journal-title":"Biodivers Data J"}],"container-title":["PLOS One"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0360070","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,7]],"date-time":"2026-10-07T17:39:24Z","timestamp":1791394764000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0360070"}},"subtitle":[],"editor":[{"given":"Daniel de Paiva","family":"Silva","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Instituto Federal de Educacao Ciencia e Tecnologia Goiano - Campus Urutai","place":["BRAZIL"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"editor"}]}],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,7]]},"references-count":39,"journal-issue":{"issue":"10","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,7]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0360070","relation":{},"ISSN":["1932-6203"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1932-6203","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,7]]}}}