The Global City Nature Challenge 2021 hosted by iNaturalist
This exciting citizen science project is happening this weekend!
Make and share observations: 30 April to 3 May 2021
Upload all your observations and work on identifying: 4 to 9 May 2021
Results announced: 10 May 2021
Meeting iNaturalist
I was introduced to iNaturalist while on a group walk in Palmiet Nature Reserve. We came across a plant in bloom with a flower that none of the experienced naturalists recognised. A member of the group pulled out her phone. She took a few photos of the flower from different angles, as well as photos of the leaves, stems and the general habitat. Within seconds, she submitted these observations to iNaturalist. Minutes later, an identification came back – Ceropagio! It was the first shared sighting of this unusual-looking flower in the experience of the local conservancy group. I was hooked.
Nature Journal for Citizen Science?
What does this have to do with nature journaling? For me this is how it works. I take photos as I nature journal. The photos and my nature journal entries complement each other. I cross-reference photo and audio recordings in my nature journal entries. I go between what I recorded on the page and what I notice and think about in reviewing the photos. With digital photos, I can zoom in to see more than I could with my unaided eye. My field notes give context to digital recordings that would otherwise miss out on the conditions of, and my thoughts and feelings about the observations. So, my nature journal entries are richer and more complete by using information from the photos.
How nature journaling can contribute to citizen science
My photos are data. This is because I have the settings on for date, time and GPS location. My nature journal entries are field notes that include information that is not in the photo, including size, context and conditions. This data is useful to science when I share it on a citizen science platform, like iNaturalist.
Like many people, I enjoy sharing my photos of nature with family, friends and social media networks. I post on citizen science social media platforms, like iNaturalist. My observations might receive research-grade level. Observations receiving this rating “… can contribute to biodiversity science, from the rarest butterfly to the most common backyard weed. We (iNaturalist) share your findings with scientific data repositories like the Global Biodiversity Information Facility to help scientists find and use your data.” https://www.inaturalist.org/ibute
As an added bonus, I might get an identification like for the plant below. While out on a nature journaling walk at Krantzkloof Nature Reserve, we came across this plant. Marianne and I were sure that it was from the Ochnaceae family also known as planes or mickey-mouse plants. There was something about the plant that made us question the species identification.
It can take awhile to get the identification. In this case, the photo is from October 2019. The species-level identification came through in August 2020. I was overwhelmed by the field guides. Once the plant was identified, the distinguishing characteristic is the bark, patchy and flaky. All the other species in this area have smooth, grey bark.
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