We were shocked to find that serious data and analytical flaws appear to invalidate the findings of last week’s Science paper @science.org , “China’s Solar Expansion Policy Reduces Bird Diversity.” Citizen science data are useful to answer such important questions, but must be used rigorously.

bioRxiv Ecology@biorxiv-ecology.bsky.social · 2mo ago

The devil in citizen science data: observation processes invalidate the causal inference that photovoltaic policy reduces bird diversity https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.08.25.746390v1

You might have seen the paper @science.org last week on the solar panels decreasing bird biodiversity. Our reanalysis, led by the talented Yangkang Chen, found fundamental, retraction-worthy flaws in their results, especially from the citizen science data and their models… (1/6)

bioRxiv Ecology@biorxiv-ecology.bsky.social · 2mo ago

The devil in citizen science data: observation processes invalidate the causal inference that photovoltaic policy reduces bird diversity https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.08.25.746390v1