sambiology's Journal

Curious... I was looking through the relatively recent papers that use iNaturalist data (https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/published-papers-that-use-inaturalist-data-wiki/2859), and I'm wondering if anyone has published a paper on a state/county/country record based JUST on iNaturalist observations... I think most publications use physical vouchers as well as photovouchers, but I'm not sure if there's been one with JUST photovouchers. Anyone know?

Traditionally with plants and bugs, I think a physical voucher is usually required for publication... I guess it would depend on the journal, but I'm not finding any papers that use solely photovouchers.

Would love any input! :)

Soooo, we had a few mothing events in DFW on the books, and as expected, most are cancelled. There's one left that I know of. It's at Acton Nature Park on Saturday, July 25. It's not really a public event - instead, it's going to just focus more on collecting some data to compare it with the other year's events... If you're coming, we'll maintain social distance and wear masks when necessary.

LLELA mothing event on Thursday, August 6th!

Also, to celebrate @wildcarrot 's return to TX, I'd like to plan one at LBJ grasslands in August or so. :)

Anyone else know of others?

Also, let me know if you're planning/wanting to come to the Acton Nature Park. :)

Moths of DFW:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=57484&subview=grid&taxon_id=47157&view=species&without_taxon_id=47224,47654

So, I was getting a bit overwhelmed and stressed out by all of the news... Lots of suffering and anger and bad news. It sucks. I even heard a new term: doomscrolling... You scroll down on your news feed and get bad news after bad news... We're inundated and saturated with it. :-/

Soooooo, I broke a bit of the rules and social distanced far from home the past few days. I know, I know, I know -- I should stay at home, but I just had to shuffle off and really escape. I headed west! I went to Big Springs State Park, Monahans Sandhills State Park, and then to Balmorhea State Park (well, the outskirts -- it's still closed). It was about a 7 hour drive to the furthest spot, but wow, did I have fun. I black lighted at several spots, and I've got a whole slew of photos to go through. :) I've got lots of ID'ing to do as well! Also, I tend to make lots and lots and lots of stops on the roads. This is mostly just to keep me awake as I drive - I have to pull over and stretch my legs and look at a weed or two.

Anyways, it was nice to clear the mind a bit, but I also thought a lot about the community on iNat and iNat in general. It's amplified my enjoyment of nature big time. I take it with me every time I go outside, and it's opened my eyes so much to the biodiversity all around me. It's just a tool, but it's like a bridge -- connecting me with nature even more. I like it! :)

As with most things these days, I bet it's not immune to the financial hardships of all non-profits. If you've got a few extra bucks, you should think about supporting iNat, especially right now. I've also double checked, and yep, the funds DO go straight to iNat and not some other bucket. :)
https://www.inaturalist.org/donate

Anywho, it was mighty nice to escape to nature for a bit, clear my mind, remember what's important in life, and check out some bugs and plants. :) Hope everyone else is doing that every now and then too!

Like many of you, I've missed out on doing some public bioblitzes all this year. It is what it is. Nonetheless, nature's still out there, just waiting for us to appreciate it and document it. I hope you all have taken some time to escape outside to look for bugs and birds and whatnot.

Well, in the meantime, let's have a little fun competition! This is sorta like a local scale city nature challenge -- only just in the DFW area! What area of DFW can document the most species, make the most observations, and have the most engagement?!?

First of all, you don't have to be a master naturalist to participate! You don't have to join any projects. This umbrella project is composed of the 6 master naturalist chapter areas. Observations made in these areas are automatically added to both that project and this umbrella project. Again, you don't have to be a master naturalist to participate, but if you are a master naturalist, hopefully you can get some volunteer service time for your participation.

So, observations of wild organisms made between September 6 and 12th will count. At the end of this time, I'll put together a little report and will highlight some of the cool finds. Also, each day there will be a "daily challenge" -- I've got a list of 7 things to look for, and you get extra respect points for documenting the daily challenge organism/interaction. :) Respect points are worth their weight in gold!

Hope you will participate! And which area do you think would have the most observations/species/participants?!? :)