19 September, 2024

Expectations 

iNaturalistUK user, Nigel Sawyer, provides his thoughts on how we can manage and perhaps increase our expectations of our observations being identified.  

N Sawyer

Pesaliodes peucestas - Ecuador

No matter what our motivation for loading images onto iNaturalist we all do so because we want to find out (and record) what we have seen.  For some this might be a one-off sighting, their holiday sightings, and for others it might be because they are doing a bio-blitz on their local (or not so local) patch.  I have, for the past few years, been submitting insect (and a few arachnid) records for Rye Meads RSPB reserve along with some from Richmond Park.  My main aim in doing so is not to record the more commonly recorded groups such as dragonflies and butterflies but to add to the inventory of the two sites by finding and photographing the bees, wasps, sawflies, flies, bugs, beetles and anything else that catches my attention.  However, my knowledge of these groups is somewhat limited hence the usefulness of a site such as iNaturalist.


Auto suggestions are only a starting point

I guess when we first start using iNaturalist our expectation is it will help solve all of our identification mysteries and confirm those identification of which we are sure of.  The reality of course is a little different and in some cases the autosuggestion is simply wrong (for example an insect cannot be a Black-headed Gull which has been suggested) although this is the exception rather than the rule.  Using the autosuggestion is a good starting point but it is also useful to check the suggestions against other sources (books or other websites if available) before committing to a species identification although for UK sightings the genus suggestions tend to be correct.

There are of course times when the autosuggestion struggles and one problem area for me has proven to be small (3-4mm long), orange flies for which a number of families and species get suggested but I have no idea which one might be correct even after checking other sources!  

Another initial expectation is that all of our submissions will get to be Research Grade but given the nature of the real world that is most unlikely.

When I travel abroad (especially South America) many of the insects are totally new to me and although some countries have good coverage for certain insect groups (butterflies and dragonflies seem pretty well covered for many countries) having the autosuggestion on iNaturalist can be very useful in helping point me in the right direction.  

Variety of community feedback

When it comes to the confirmation of a species or a suggestion from a human identifier I have found the feedback to be anything from zero to brilliant with an explanation as to why the identifier thinks the species is species X, Y or Z.  In my experience certain groups have an active community, often by countries such as butterflies in Ecuador and Odonata from Turkey, where identifications are quick and from experts in their field. I must admit it was a bit of a thrill having feedback from Keith Willmot, the world expert, on my Ecuador Adelpha butterfly sightings and something I had not expected.  

Sharing your observations

Talking of Ecuadoran butterflies one of the unexpected results of uploading images onto iNaturalist was a request for some of my images to be used on a specialist Ecuador butterfly site (  https://www.cotacachi.eu/en/ ).  Of course, I was delighted to say feel free to use the images because one reason my records are on the iNaturalist is to help spread knowledge.


N Sawyer

Purple Hairstreak - Favonius quercus - Richmond Park

Species coverage expectations

My original expectation was there would be good coverage of all insect groups but there are groups with a limited number of (especially for world-wide coverage), if any, experienced identifiers feeding back on the images uploaded.  Three such groups are the Hymenoptera, Tachinid flies and the Leaf (and other) hoppers.  One reason for this at a UK level is likely to be because the UK national recording schemes recommend using iRecord rather than iNaturalist.  It does however lead to gaps in iNaturalist coverage especially if a user only looks for Research Grade records.

Another major “gap” are the Neo-tropical moths which given the number of species recorded is not really a surprise.  In Ecuador most of the birding hotels run a moth trap at night mainly to attract birds to a free feast in the morning but they are very productive for moth and a few other insects such as the large Bush Crickets and other predatory insects.  

Research in advance

Before having high expectations of obtaining identifications it pays to do your research first (i.e. checking iNaturalist) before you go to a country or upload images of certain insects so you should be able to determine what level of expectation you should have when it comes to your own records.

Before I went to Ecuador I had checked some of the sites we were visiting on iNaturalist and found that many of the moth sightings were to genus level only so although I did get some sightings to species level in the main I was happy to get them to genus level. 

Select the best image

It is also likely that for some insect groups in particular that a species identification will not be possible from a single photograph.  Shots from different parts of the insect are often required and you can almost guarantee the required angle is the only one you did not get a shot of!  However, you do learn from these suggestions and the next time will often try to get a shot from the right angle.

I think I should also point out that if upload really poor quality images (low resolution or subject a small blob or unsharp images) you cannot expect a full identification.  When trying my hand at being an identifier I looked at one image that was meant to be of a butterfly and although there was plenty of foliage there was no sign of the butterfly.  I also realised identifying even common butterflies such as Meadow Brown and Gatekeeper from photographs is not always as easy I thought it would be!

So, to summarise, after uploading decent images to iNaturalist hope for the best but do not always expect to get feedback or to have your sighting making it to Research Grade!  We all need to manage our expectations.

 

You may also be interested in reading Nigel’s blog post Submitting the best photos for your observations.


Posted on 19 September, 2024 14:27 by giselle_s giselle_s | 1 comment | Leave a comment

12 September, 2024

Grassland Fungi

iNaturalistUK user, Peachysteve, provides advice on recording these under recorded fungi.

The summer may be over but there is still plenty to record. Fungi like warm, moist, and stable conditions and that’s why Autumn is the peak time for them. As the summer heat fades and the rain comes, the soil reaches a Goldilocks state, not too hot, not too cold, not too wet, not too dry.

The UK is globally important for a group of grassland fungi restricted to ancient grasslands, these are the CHEGD fungi, the best known of which are the Waxcaps. Many of these species are on the IUCN’s Red List.

If you look at the European records on iNaturalistUK you’ll see that the vast majority are made in the UK. Despite this they are still hugely under recorded. They are currently afforded very little protection and are extremely threatened by habitat loss. Grasslands are often seen as low importance habitat and a blank slate for development or enhancement. Low nutrient grasslands are the least productive so are earmarked for land use change, and yet they are also the most diverse and may support globally important communities. We are losing important sites before we even know we have them. That’s where the power of citizen science recording comes in. By posting your records on iNaturalist, and with the help of expert identifiers, we can identify important sites across the country. Some Local Record Centres are already making use of this, like the Lancashire Waxcap Project.

So please get out in old grasslands, they could be meadows, pasture or the grounds of historic buildings, and look for Clubs, Corals, and colourful Waxcaps. Make sure to identify them as fungi to help them get to the right person for ID or confirmation.

A good picture is essential to a safe ID.

Crimson Waxcap – Hygrocybe punicea (c) peachysteve

When it comes to fungi, it’s important to show certain features clearly. For mushrooms a shot which shows the cap, stem and gill attachment is vital for a good ID.

A single image of a group of fungi with one or two upturned can show this well. If there is only one specimen then you will need to pick it to show the gill attachment. If you really can’t bring yourself to pick it then you may get a reasonable image with your front facing camera.

If you know you have a Waxcap but aren’t sure of the exact species then you may want to download Peachy Steve’s UK Waxcaps app*. Only available for android phones.

Together we can make a difference for nature.

 

*This app has been developed by peachysteve and is not related to iNaturalist in any way.

Posted on 12 September, 2024 07:25 by giselle_s giselle_s | 1 comment | Leave a comment

11 September, 2024

Finalists announced – NBN Awards for Wildlife Recording 2024

The NBN Trust are delighted to announce the 35 individuals and organisations who have been shortlisted as Finalists of the NBN Awards for Wildlife Recording 2024.  The winners will be announced on Thursday 21 November, at the NBN Conference in Liverpool. Many of these nominees are iNaturalistUK users and or use the observation data added to iNaturalistUK. Read more about them on the NBN Trust website. 

Thankyou to everyone who took the time to nominate. If you think you know someone or a group who should be nominated look out for the opening of next years nominations in early 2025.

Posted on 11 September, 2024 11:33 by giselle_s giselle_s | 0 comments | Leave a comment

14 August, 2024

Submitting the best photos for your observations

iNaturalistUK user, Nigel Sawyer, provides some valuable technical tips on how to submit the best photo you can to help your observations reach research grade.

Nigel Sawyer


Corydalus peruvianus – Colombia

We load photos onto iNaturalist in order for the subject to be identified and for the record to be made available to others.  This means the photo (or photos as for the identification of insects, my main interest, shots from several angles are often required for specific identification) should, where possible, be sharp, correctly exposed and for the subject to be clearly visible and not hidden amongst a lot of foliage for example.

Select and adjust the size

It is also useful to make sure the images are not too large because the larger the image the more storage space is required on the server and also large images can take minutes to upload into iNaturalist.   The jpegs I produce from the RAW files are usually have the longest side set to 6,000 pixels and are anything from 6,000 KB to 30,000 KB in size and these are too big to upload.

For uploading to iNaturalist I produce smaller images and use two workflows depending on if I am travelling or not.  When travelling the images (jpegs rather than RAW files) are copied from the SD card and then are processed using the default software that comes with the laptop.  The image is cropped and the exposure is adjusted before saving the image with a longest side of 1,200 pixels and with the image quality set to 80%.  This tends to give an image size of between 100-200KB although they might be a bit larger.  These images can then be loaded directly into iNaturalist.  However, do take care and make sure the pixel number is set to 1200 and not 120 which I did once – the images loaded very quickly but were far too small to be viewed by identifiers!

Getting the best image quality

When at home all my images (RAW files) are loaded into Lightroom and I create the files for iNaturalist by exporting jpegs from Lightroom.  The workflow is similar to the above but there are a few more steps although the output settings can be set and used for a batch of exported images.

The first step is to process the images as normal and then to create a copy of the photo.  It is the copy that is then cropped to focus attention onto the main subject which is on occasion may not be the original subject of the photo but another insect that appears in the shot.  After this the sharpness level is increased to at least 75 (on the Lightroom sharpness scale).  Before exporting the image the keywords on the copied image(s) that are not relevant for identification are removed.  The images are then imported with image quality set to 60, longest side set to 1,200 pixels, “sharpen on export” set to screen and with an appropriate name.

Use the best that you have

Sometimes the images we capture are not as sharp or clear as we would like.  Where possible I do not load such images but once in a while you may have a poor shot (despite attempts to improve the image by increasing the amount of sharpening for example) that is the only shot of an interesting insect that you captured.  These I would load into iNaturalist having tweaked the image to the best of my ability but often add a comment expressing my apologies for such a poor image.

Rough-Haired Lagria Beetle - Lagria hirta - Hertfordshire



Posted on 14 August, 2024 09:28 by giselle_s giselle_s | 0 comments | Leave a comment

30 July, 2024

National Marine Week 2024

27th July – 11th August 2024

With the ocean covering over 70% of the earth there is an incredible amount of sea life to be discovered this National Marine Week! Marine data is always under represented and this is a great opportunity to explore and record the marine life around the British Isles. Why not take part in many of the organized events across the country or take some time to explore the coast and record your findings with iNaturalist this week?

There are some amazing animals to be found in our rock pools at this time of year and the warmer waters always bring an increase in jellyfish sightings. Jellyfish are cnidarians, a phylum distinguished by their stinging cells, known as cnidocytes. Their gelatinous bodies contain a nervous system in the form of a nerve net and although they have no brain they do have sensory organs. Jellyfish are able to maintain their orientation and balance by using a specialized organ called a statocyst and they are able to sense changes in light through their ocelli, very simple eyespots.

We have many different species in the UK such as the commonly found Compass jellyfish, Chrysaora hysoscella (below), but this month iNaturalist has also seen some more unusual sightings of the Whitecross jelly, Staurostoma mertensii, being recorded. The data collected will help researchers understand changes in climate and the health of our oceans.

Posted on 30 July, 2024 08:23 by julbun julbun | 0 comments | Leave a comment

23 July, 2024

Take part in the iNaturalistUK user survey

 

The National Biodiversity Network Trust (NBN Trust) has teamed up with The University of Exeter to find out your experiences and attitudes towards iNaturalist.  Whether you use iNaturalist often or have yet to explore it we want to hear from you.

This survey will involve answering questions about yourself, your thoughts on your personal well-being and feelings towards nature, and your usage of the iNaturalist platform.

It should take approximately 15-20 minutes of your time to complete, and you can also choose to enter a prize draw for a £100 gift voucher or donate to a wildlife charity of your choice.

All users registered on iNaturalist and affiliated to iNaturalistUK as at 01 June 2024 will be sent a unique link to complete the survey. Please keep an eye on your inbox!

Whether or not you have used iNaturalist often, or if you have only signed up and not yet used it, your input is important. The results of the survey could help shape the future of biodiversity research as well as identify ways for us to engage more diverse users in biodiversity citizen science. All feedback will be extremely valuable.

The study is funded by the Natural Environment Research Council as part of the “Renewing biodiversity through a people-in-nature approach (RENEW)” project https://renewbiodiversity.org.uk/

In addition to this survey the researchers are also looking at the biodiversity data held on iNaturalistUK. We are sure that this will provide us with valuable insight into what iNaturalistUK users are recording, where, when and why. The aim is to allow us to plan how we can best support recorders and develop iNaturalistUK. It is anticipated that the initial findings will be available to share in early 2025.

Notes

If you have any queries about the survey or haven't received a link to the survey please contact the research team iNatUK-survey@exeter.ac.uk

The survey link is personal to you so please do not share it. The email will come from noreply@qemailserver.com

If you have created an account after 01 June 2024 and / or affiliated to iNaturalistUK site after that date you can still take part. Contact the research team with your iNaturalist details. iNatUK-survey@exeter.ac.uk

The survey is due to be sent out in late July with regular reminders to ask people to complete the survey. It is anticipated that the final response date will be in October.

Full details of the survey including its purpose and how data will be collected and used will be set out in the survey introduction.

Posted on 23 July, 2024 10:22 by giselle_s giselle_s | 0 comments | Leave a comment

04 June, 2024

New Citizen Science Interactive Web Tool

The Data Team at the Marine Biological Association has released a new citizen science web tool, providing data-focused best practices and guidance for creators and users of citizen science data. The tool was developed in partnership with Natural England and funded by Defra and the Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment (NCEA) programme and aims to support the growing volume of valuable data from citizen science projects.

Data management and citizen science guidance from over 60 literature sources across various sectors were compiled to create this interactive guide. It highlights the importance of a data management plan, the role of data archive centres, and the journey data can take to maximize reuse and impact. The guide emphasizes sharing data in standardised formats and under open licenses to inform environmental assessments, management policies and scientific research, both nationally and globally. Further information on broader citizen science guidance is also signposted, should you wish to find out more about non-data elements of citizen science projects.

The guide is organized into six data stages: plan, collect, process, preserve, share, and reuse. Each stage includes a description of suggested activities to ensure high-quality and FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) data, along with a checklist for implementation. Further information regarding each organisation and project mentioned can be found via links, pop-ups or within the glossary. At the end of some activity sections, case studies are included for projects that demonstrate good examples of the implementation of the activities described, to assist users to put the guidance into practice and make the most of existing citizen science initiatives.

The tool is hosted and maintained by DASSH (The UK Data Archive Centre for Marine Species and Habitats) at the MBA, and is a dynamic resource for the citizen science community https://www.dassh.ac.uk/citizen-science/best-practice.

If you have any feedback or questions, please contact dassh.enquiries@mba.ac.uk.

Posted on 04 June, 2024 13:27 by julbun julbun | 0 comments | Leave a comment

20 May, 2024

Invasive Species Week 2024

Over 2,000 plants and animals in the UK are non-indigenous and 10-15% of these are invasive species which are considered to have a negative impact on our native species and a high capacity to spread to natural and semi-natural habitats. Non-indigenous marine species are often accidentally introduced through shipping or arrive naturally on ocean currents.

Invasive Species Week aims to raise awareness of their impacts and of the ways in which everyone is able to help. Recording your sightings via iNaturalistUK supports scientists in monitoring their spread and is an important part of controlling and understanding their distribution.

Some invasive marine species to look out for:

Asian shore crab, Hemigrapsus spp.
Slipper limpet, Crepidula fornicate
Carpet sea squirt, Didemnum vexillum
Chinese mitten crab, Eriocheir sinensis
Wireweed, Sargassum muticum
Wakame, Undaria pinnatifida

Visit the Marine Biological Association’s ‘Wakame Watch’ page for further tips on how to ID Wakame and distinguish it from other common seaweeds https://www.dassh.ac.uk/citizen-science/wakame-watch.

Information on the Chinese mitten crab is also available at https://www.mba.ac.uk/help-track-the-spread-of-the-invasive-chinese-mitten-crab-in-the-uk/.

Posted on 20 May, 2024 10:51 by julbun julbun | 0 comments | Leave a comment

29 April, 2024

Marine Species Spring Spotting Guide!

Many of our migratory marine animals and birds will return to UK waters during the spring, here are a few to keep your eyes open for!
Basking sharks, Cetorhinus maximus, follow their migratory routes back to our coasts where you may see them basking on the surface of the ocean as they feed on zooplankton. They are the second largest fish in the world and are identifiable by their huge triangular dorsal fin. Basking sharks are often spotted off the south west coast, especially around Devon and Cornwall, Wales and the west coast of Scotland where they gather around the Isle of Skye and the Isle of Mull in the Scottish Hebrides.
The Atlantic puffin, Fratercula arctica, is another of our spring visitors. These tiny birds are members of the auk family and will gather on cliff tops and islands where they settle to breed; they will usually produce just one egg and stay with their partner for life. It is thought that there are around 580,000 pairs of puffins living in the UK and you may be lucky enough to see them if you visit places like the Isles of Scilly, the Farne Islands in Northumberland or the Shetlands.
Finally, if you prefer to stay on dry land, our rockpools will be teeming with life for you to record, including all the favourites such as cushion stars and snakelocks anemones to those you have to search a little harder to find, like chitons or nudibranchs. Who will you discover?

Basking sharks are heavily protected in the UK but numbers are now thought to be stabilizing, however the Atlantic puffin is considered to be in decline which makes the data collected by citizen scientists using iNaturalist important as it will help to support the monitoring and conservation of these beautiful animals.

Posted on 29 April, 2024 15:43 by julbun julbun | 0 comments | Leave a comment

24 April, 2024

Hot Tip Videos

The team at the Natural History Consortium have produced two short videos to help users understand more about


  • setting your licence - how to make sure your observations can be shared and used in research


  • setting your location - how to check your location is accurate


  • how to take better photos - a few tips to help others make an identification


    All viewable on YouTube so feel free to watch and share!

     

    NHC Video still

    Posted on 24 April, 2024 15:27 by giselle_s giselle_s | 0 comments | Leave a comment