iNaturalist is a global online community that allows people to connect and share their observations of living things in nature. Observations are submitted as photos of wild animals, plants, and fungi taken at a particular place and time. On iNaturalist, community members can get help with species identification or help others; increase their nature knowledge; see what organisms have been found in an area; keep a “life list” of their observations; and contribute to a growing record of biodiversity data. To date, almost 5 million people worldwide have submitted nearly 90 million observations.
What is biodiversity, and why is it important? Biodiversity is the full variety of all the species on Earth. It is the genetic variability of the living world upon which ecosystems have evolved to function. As humans, we depend on biodiversity and healthy ecosystems for life, including clean water, food, the pollination of crops, the recycling of nutrients, and medicines. Biodiversity has economic and cultural value. The species of a particular area provide a sense of place and community pride. The more we learn about Earth’s biodiversity, its complexity and value are revealed.
iNaturalist began as a project of three graduate students at the University of California Berkley’s School of Information in 2008. The principal idea was to develop a system to help people enjoy and learn about nature when they are outdoors. iNaturalist has now become a worldwide community science venture and is a joint initiative of the California Academy of Sciences and the National Geographic Society. Internationally, iNaturalist is supported by numerous organizations through the iNaturalist Network.
On March 19, 2018, I submitted my very first observation on iNaturalist - photos of a small bee foraging on a common wildflower in a city park. With the help of the image recognition software, I identified it as a small carpenter bee (Genus Ceratina). However, it was soon identified by a research scientist in Singapore, a bee specialist, as a metallic sweat bee (Genus Lasioglossum, Subgenus Dialictus). That very first observation showed me how easy it was to learn and connect to the global scientific community while contributing a local record of biodiversity through iNaturalist. I was hooked!
For researchers and experts in particular fields, iNaturalist is like having millions of boots-on-the-ground assistants exploring local environments and contributing research quality species data. This data - where a species occurs and what it’s doing - provides a scientific base for dialogue and community involvement in natural resource and biodiversity management. Many Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission (ANHC) staff members are actively involved in contributing iNaturalist observations, identifying observations, and collecting biodiversity data through community projects, such as the ANHC Natural Areas Inventory project.
Exploring iNaturalist (https://www.inaturalist.org) is free and and so is signing-up to participate. Simply create an account with an email address, username and password. The iNaturalist app is is available to download on Apple’s App Store or Google’s Play Store. We encourage you to join the ANHC and a world of naturalists as we learn and work toward biodiversity conservation.
Sources
Photo: A metallic sweat bee (Genus Lasioglossum, Subgenus Dialictus) foraging on spring beauty (Claytonia virginica). This photo was submitted as an observation by Leslie Patrick on iNaturalist.
What is biodiversity, and why is it important? Biodiversity is the full variety of all the species on Earth. It is the genetic variability of the living world upon which ecosystems have evolved to function. As humans, we depend on biodiversity and healthy ecosystems for life, including clean water, food, the pollination of crops, the recycling of nutrients, and medicines. Biodiversity has economic and cultural value. The species of a particular area provide a sense of place and community pride. The more we learn about Earth’s biodiversity, its complexity and value are revealed.
iNaturalist began as a project of three graduate students at the University of California Berkley’s School of Information in 2008. The principal idea was to develop a system to help people enjoy and learn about nature when they are outdoors. iNaturalist has now become a worldwide community science venture and is a joint initiative of the California Academy of Sciences and the National Geographic Society. Internationally, iNaturalist is supported by numerous organizations through the iNaturalist Network.
On March 19, 2018, I submitted my very first observation on iNaturalist - photos of a small bee foraging on a common wildflower in a city park. With the help of the image recognition software, I identified it as a small carpenter bee (Genus Ceratina). However, it was soon identified by a research scientist in Singapore, a bee specialist, as a metallic sweat bee (Genus Lasioglossum, Subgenus Dialictus). That very first observation showed me how easy it was to learn and connect to the global scientific community while contributing a local record of biodiversity through iNaturalist. I was hooked!For researchers and experts in particular fields, iNaturalist is like having millions of boots-on-the-ground assistants exploring local environments and contributing research quality species data. This data - where a species occurs and what it’s doing - provides a scientific base for dialogue and community involvement in natural resource and biodiversity management. Many Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission (ANHC) staff members are actively involved in contributing iNaturalist observations, identifying observations, and collecting biodiversity data through community projects, such as the ANHC Natural Areas Inventory project.
Exploring iNaturalist (https://www.inaturalist.org) is free and and so is signing-up to participate. Simply create an account with an email address, username and password. The iNaturalist app is is available to download on Apple’s App Store or Google’s Play Store. We encourage you to join the ANHC and a world of naturalists as we learn and work toward biodiversity conservation.
Sources
Photo: A metallic sweat bee (Genus Lasioglossum, Subgenus Dialictus) foraging on spring beauty (Claytonia virginica). This photo was submitted as an observation by Leslie Patrick on iNaturalist.