1,000,000 iNat observations from Ukraine: summary and some stats
On 16.09.2023 we reached 1,000,000 iNat observations from Ukraine (including “casuals”), so I think it’s worth to highlight it and to make a small summary.
За цим лінком автоматичний куций гугл переклад даної сторінки українською.
Official celebrations of the round numbers by the iNat team only consider non-"casual" observations. However, within our Ukrainian segment, among the top 10 most active users, there are 3 botanists from our central botanical garden, who have accumulated a lot of nice observations on the distribution of cultivated plants. So most of our “casual” observations are rather valuable. And it’s just interesting to analyse it with “casuals”.
The observation numbered 1,000,000 was some of a large series upload by @alexander_baransky, perhaps this one (although its position will change after some observations will be deleted).
Among the 1,000,000 observations 944,192, 94%, are non-“casual” (comparing to 90% worldwide on iNat). Among “casual” observations 48,091 (5% from all) are marked as captive/cultivated. 681,173 observations, 68%, are “research grade” (62% worldwide, 67% Europe). 803,299 observations among non-“casuals”, 80% from all, are on the level of species or better (77% worldwide, 81% Europe).
Ukraine ranks approximately 21st globally among all countries on iNat by the number of observations (0.6% from all iNat observations). For comparison the top countries are US (78 millions), Canada (12M), Mexico (6M) and Australia (6M); in Europe (33M) – UK (4M), France (3M), Germany (3M), Spain (2M) and Italy (2M).
Our one million observations were made by 10,304 users (0.3% from all observers on iNat), among them only 8,451 uploaded any non-“casual” observations. It’s 97 observations per observer in average (49 worldwide, 47 Europe). The most observations were uploaded by @alexander_baransky, 56,797 (5.7% from all Ukrainian observations). 33% observations were uploaded by top 10 users (by number of observations). 17 users uploaded over 10,000 observations from Ukraine, 115 – over 1,000 (including “casuals”). Over the last few months, around 1,200 observations from Ukraine have been uploaded daily by about 100 users.
In Ukraine only about 1 in 4,000 people have ever used iNat (c. 0.025% of the population), whereas in the US it’s about 1 in 200 (c. 0.5% of the population), so we clearly have some potential for growth.
By the current identifications the 1,000,000 observations from Ukraine represent 18,379 species (including many cultivated/captive). Non-“casual” observations represent 15,683 species, “research grade” – 11,487 species. “Cultivated/captive” observations alone represent 4,502 species (numbers will change with future IDs).
Considering that around 60,000 eukaryotic species are estimated to naturally inhabit Ukraine, our iNaturalist data covers more than a quarter (c. 26%) of these species. I think this is pretty solid considering that many species require microscopic or anatomical analysis for identification.
Two users observed over 4,000 species (including many cultivated/captive) in the first 1,000,000 observations from Ukraine, 4 users – over 3,000 species, 15 users – over 2,000 species and 47 users – over 1,000 species (with species-level identification or better).
Top 10 users by the number of species observed in the first 1,000,000 observations from Ukraine (with ID at species level or better), including “casuals”, with other stats (some numbers will change because of the future IDs and deleted observations).
| No | Observer | Species - all | Species - non-casual | Species - RG | Species - captive | Observations (all) | IDs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | @oleksandr_shynder | 4,386 | 2,989 | 2,449 | 2,045 | 23,541 | 4,739 |
| 2 | @igor117 | 4,303 | 3,553 | 2,470 | 827 | 24,841 | 10,815 |
| 3 | @yuri_bengus | 3,619 | 2,977 | 2,456 | 787 | 10,110 | 127 |
| 4 | @aleksandr_levon | 3,137 | 2,427 | 2,203 | 955 | 27,747 | 641 |
| 5 | @vasyliuk1 | 2,935 | 2,895 | 2,349 | 56 | 21,968 | 1,252 |
| 6 | @davydovbotany | 2,899 | 2,885 | 2,675 | 22 | 24,326 | 172,292 |
| 7 | @liubov_ilminska | 2,756 | 2,734 | 2,151 | 22 | 7,892 | 159 |
| 8 | @svetlana-bogdanovich | 2,716 | 2,672 | 2,364 | 101 | 54,329 | 26,771 |
| 9 | @alexander_baransky | 2,697 | 2,448 | 2,105 | 481 | 56,797 | 25,092 |
| 10 | @sergey_d | 2,690 | 2,681 | 2,338 | 8 | 18,728 | 6,311 |
9,986 users have contributed to the identification of the first 1,000,000 observations from Ukraine by now. The top identifiers with over 20,000 IDs are @davydovbotany (172,292 - vascular plants and all-around), @kharkovbut (40,053 - Lepidoptera and Odonata), @sotnik_on (37,844 - Coleoptera and insects all-around), @igor_olshanskyi (33,461 - vascular plants), @svetlana-bogdanovich (26,771 - Crimean vascular plants and Crimea all-around), @alexander_baransky (25,092 - vascular plants), @roman-evseev (24,624 - all-around), @churilovam (24,297 - vascular plants). There are no foreign identifiers in our top 10, several in top 20. Other identifiers from Ukraine who have significantly contributed to identifying specific groups, at least from my point of view, include (but are not limited to) @valeriidarmostuk (lichens), @sergey_d (Lepidoptera), @petro_hryniuk and @olexandr_ghryb (birds, especially by the voices), @mikhailrusin (rodents, shrews and mammals all-around), @maxstereo (ichneumonid wasps and all-around), @sphex (crabronid wasps and animals all-around), @odonataly (Odonata and insects all-around), @filantus and @gansucha (spiders), @yuliyakutsokon and @yurij_ivancea (fishes), @gural-sverlova (terrestrial molluscs), @mikhail46 (aquatic molluscs and crustaceans), @katerina_kashirina (Crimean vascular plants), @georgebondarenko (vascular plants), @nerruslan (Coleoptera), @viktor_yep (Lepidoptera), @makitpa (myriapods), @oleh_prylutskyi (“higher” fungi). Many thanks to them and to others who have contributed to the identification!
The first observation from Ukraine was uploaded on iNat in August 2012 (iNat started in 2008), one of a bobak marmot, Marmota bobak, by @serggrek.
By the end of 2015 there were only 252 observations of 142 species by 14 users from Ukraine with @serhiypopoff dominating (102/71).
Stats for Ukraine by the end of each year since 2016 (by uploading dates; numbers were not the same at those years because there were fewer IDs and some stuff was deleted, as well as some numbers will change because of the future IDs and deleted observations).
| Year | Observations (all) | Species - all | Species - non-casual | Observers | Top observer by observations | Top observer by species - all | Top observer by species - non-casual |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 303 | 172 | 146 | 23 | @serhiypopoff (113) | @serhiypopoff (75) | @serhiypopoff (75) |
| 2017 | 866 | 500 | 463 | 77 | @missnarjess (295) | @missnarjess (169) | @missnarjess (168) |
| 2018 | 8,260 | 2,639 | 2,370 | 796 | @efarilis (3,333) | @efarilis (948) | @efarilis (945) |
| 2019 | 39,581 | 5,212 | 4,622 | 1,984 | @efarilis (7,133) | @efarilis (1,336) | @efarilis (1,332) |
| 2020 | 181,456 | 9,752 | 8,893 | 4,194 | @katerina_kashirina (13,457) | @sergey_d (2,078) | @sergey_d (2,068) |
| 2021 | 448,105 | 13,046 | 11,613 | 7,220 | @svetlana-bogdanovich (27,184) | @sergey_d (2,332) | @sergey_d (2,323) |
| 2022 | 729,647 | 16,149 | 13,920 | 8,998 | @svetlana-bogdanovich (43,841) | @oleksandr_shynder (3,676) | @yuri_bengus (2,858) |
| now | 1,000,367 | 18,379 | 15,683 | 10,304 | @alexander_baransky (56,797) | @oleksandr_shynder (4,386) | @igor117 (3,553) |
During 2021 iNaturalist was translated into Ukrainian. It was initiated and supported from a project of @mikhailrusin, interface and some texts on the website were translated by @yatsuk_iryna and @oleh_prylutskyi. Many Ukrainian taxa names were accumulated by @valeriidarmostuk, @davydovbotany, @vitalii_1984, @yuliyakutsokon, @oleksandr_zinenko, myself and others (these were automatically uploaded from Excel tables by the iNat team in 2021). Both before and after that, many users have manually added numerous Ukrainian species names, as well as improved and deepened the website's translation. Much work still remains, particularly concerning Ukrainian taxa names. This is very significant, even for many Ukrainians proficient in English, as a substantial part of the interest in using iNat lies in learning the local names of the species we encounter.
The most significant iNat events in Ukraine were probably “Independence Day of Ukraine 2022”, “World Bioblitz in support of Ukraine 2023”, “City Nature Challenge 2023 Ukraine”, “City Nature Challenge 2023 Kyiv” organized by @odonataly, as well as “Ukrainian Winter Bioblitz 2022/2023” and “Ukrainian Summer Bioblitz 2021” organized by @davydovbotany.
iNaturalist is used in the educational process in several institutions of Ukraine, including our top Kyiv University, where @odonataly has widely implemented it for student’s zoological practice and even published a nice methodological guide on it (2022).
Another nice text in Ukrainian is these instructions on how to use iNat by @oleh_prylutskyi with @davydovbotany (2020).
Starting from 2023 we also have a Telegram chat, “iNaturalist UKR”, for discussing iNat in Ukrainian, it’s managed by @odonataly. There are some interesting guidelines and suggestions. Btw, my suggestions on how to photograph molluscs for iNat were initially posted there (it was idea of @odonataly to write them), but later I’ve posted updated illustrated versions on the iNat journal, in English and Ukrainian.
7 observations from Ukraine were chosen as “iNat Observation of the Day” (0.2% from all of them).
The 10 most observed species in 1,000,0000 observations from Ukraine are common mistletoe, Viscum album (6,363, plant); common oak, Quercus robur (3,739, plant); greater celandine, Chelidonium majus (3,040, plant); common sunburst lichen, Xanthoria parietina (2,763, lichen); boxelder maple, Acer negundo (2,708, plant); annual fleabane, Erigeron annuus (2,419, plant); harlequin lady beetle, Harmonia axyridis (2,400, insect); common nettle, Urtica dioica (2,179, plant); common ragweed, Ambrosia artemisiifolia (2,171, plant); Scots pine, Pinus sylvestris (2,081, plant). It’s rather abnormal, except the harlequin lady beetle, in most of the other countries and worldwide the birds are dominating (with some most noticeable insects). So our plantwatchers defeated the birdwatchers. It’s also notable that 4 of these 10 species are invasive in Ukraine.
Some stats by the selected taxonomical groups from 1,000,000 Ukrainian observations. “ID rates” are indicated for the non-“casuals” and compared with Austria, Germany and France, as European countries in similar latitudes with rather good stats on iNat, and with Europe in general (some numbers will change because of the future IDs and deleted observations).
| Taxa | Observations (all) | % from a million | Species - all | Species - non-casual | % of this group’s species estimated for Ukraine (c.), non-casual | % of all species on iNat from Ukraine, non-casual | % of RG - Ukraine | % of RG - Austria | % of RG - Germany | % of RG - France | % of RG - Europe |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| all | 1,000,367 | 100% | 18,379 | 15,683 | 26% | 100% | 68% | 66% | 67% | 64% | 67% |
| all plants | 614,514 | 61% | 6,913 | 4,861 | ? | 31% | 76% | 75% | 68% | 59% | 67% |
| - mosses | 6,981 | 0.7% | 178 | 174 | 25% | 1% | 37% | 47% | 51% | 44% | 42% |
| - hepatics | 508 | 0.05% | 39 | 39 | 20% | 0.2% | 71% | 72% | 75% | 63% | 68% |
| - vascular plants | 603,481 | 60% | 6,617 | 4,569 | 76% | 29% | 77% | 76% | 69% | 59% | 68% |
| Mycetozoa | 1,352 | 0.1% | 57 | 57 | ? | 0.4% | 30% | 25% | 31% | 36% | 33% |
| all fungi | 55,481 | 5.5% | 1,951 | 1,942 | 30% | 12% | 44% | 41% | 39% | 35% | 38% |
| - Agaricomycetes | 29,207 | 3% | 1,045 | 1,039 | ? | 7% | 36% | 46% | 39% | 34% | 39% |
| - Lecanoromycetes | 17,292 | 1.7% | 353 | 352 | ? | 2% | 66% | 41% | 48% | 47% | 44% | all animals | 325,735 | 32.5% | 9,302 | 8,670 | 20% | 55% | 71% | 66% | 71% | 71% | 71% |
| - Cnidaria | 421 | 0.04% | 30 | 7 | 15% | 0% | 78% | 85% | 61% | 77% | 76% |
| - Annelida | 737 | 0.07% | 29 | 28 | 5% | 0.1% | 20% | 10% | 13% | 33% | 22% |
| - all molluscs | 13,382 | 1.3% | 310 | 267 | 65% | 1.7% | 76% | 62% | 57% | 64% | 61% |
| -- Caenogastropoda | 590 | 0.06% | 43 | 29 | ? | 0.1% | 77% | 54% | 58% | 72% | 67% |
| -- Hygrophila | 860 | 0.1% | 25 | 23 | ? | 0.1% | 84% | 54% | 64% | 55% | 64% |
| -- Stylommatophora | 10,687 | 1% | 169 | 160 | 80% | 1% | 77% | 65% | 58% | 59% | 60% |
| -- Bivalvia | 1,064 | 0.1% | 56 | 45 | ? | 0.5% | 59% | 77% | 58% | 59% | 55% |
| - all arthropods | 217,171 | 22% | 7,743 | 7,634 | 15% | 49% | 68% | 57% | 62% | 64% | 63% |
| -- all crustaceans | 2,168 | 0.2% | 131 | 121 | 10% | 1% | 58% | 52% | 73% | 74% | 71% |
| --- Branchiopoda | 210 | 0.02% | 16 | 15 | 70% | 0% | 51% | 63% | 44% | 28% | 40% |
| --- Copepoda | 33 | 0% | 10 | 10 | 5% | 0% | 10% | 9% | 2% | 3% | 5% |
| --- Amphipoda | 62 | 0% | 8 | 8 | 5% | 0% | 2% | 14% | 14% | 11% | 12% |
| --- Isopoda | 1,219 | 0.1% | 56 | 56 | ? | 0.3% | 60% | 53% | 80% | 77% | 74% |
| --- Decapoda | 570 | 0.05% | 37 | 28 | 60% | 0.2% | 72% | 81% | 82% | 86% | 84% |
| -- all arachnids | 17,453 | 1.7% | 476 | 465 | 10% | 3% | 42% | 43% | 49% | 56% | 48% |
| --- spiders | 15,247 | 1.5% | 351 | 342 | 30% | 2% | 44% | 42% | 48% | 56% | 48% |
| --- harvestmen | 572 | 0.05% | 26 | 26 | 60% | 0.1% | 48% | 67% | 81% | 81% | 70% |
| --- mites | 1,496 | 0.15% | 91 | 90 | 5% | 0.6% | 20% | 17% | 26% | 20% | 24% |
| -- myriapods | 1,618 | 0.16% | 39 | 38 | 25% | 0.2% | 50% | 23% | 34% | 58% | 38% |
| -- Entognatha | 361 | 0.04% | 32 | 32 | 5% | 0.2% | 30% | 22% | 39% | 38% | 32% |
| -- all insects | 195,058 | 19.5% | 7,064 | 6,978 | 20% | 44% | 64% | 59% | 63% | 66% | 65% |
| --- Odonata | 7,571 | 0.7% | 72 | 70 | 90% | 0.4% | 86% | 71% | 84% | 90% | 85% |
| --- Orthoptera | 7,367 | 0.7% | 132 | 131 | 60% | 0.8% | 66% | 86% | 78% | 75% | 74% |
| --- Hymenoptera | 21,674 | 2% | 939 | 931 | 5% | 6% | 41% | 34% | 39% | 39% | 40% |
| --- Coleoptera | 44,005 | 4% | 1,864 | 1,851 | 30% | 12% | 68% | 59% | 67% | 65% | 65% |
| --- Lepidoptera | 72,759 | 7% | 2,251 | 2,218 | 40% | 14% | 76% | 77% | 80% | 76% | 79% |
| --- Diptera | 17,636 | 1.7% | 889 | 881 | 15% | 6% | 27% | 27% | 34% | 38% | 36% |
| --- all Hemiptera | 16,987 | 1.7% | 704 | 698 | ? | 4% | 63% | 59% | 68% | 70% | 66% |
| ---- Heteroptera | 13,088 | 1.3% | 409 | 405 | 50% | 3% | 75% | 73% | 78% | 79% | 77% |
| ---- Auchenorrhyncha | 2,219 | 0.2% | 128 | 127 | ? | 0.8% | 34% | 43% | 44% | 48% | 40% |
| ---- Sternorrhyncha | 1,603 | 0.16% | 167 | 166 | ? | 1% | 10% | 9% | 14% | 13% | 14% |
| - all vertebrates | 93,631 | 9% | 1127 | 679 | 83% | 4% | 93% | 90% | 94% | 92% | 93% |
| -- fishes (Actinopterygii) | 2,422 | 0.2% | 312 | 151 | 60% | 1% | 80% | 85% | 76% | 86% | 83% |
| -- amphibians | 4,487 | 0.4% | 37 | 22 | 100% | 0.1% | 70% | 83% | 77% | 74% | 83% |
| -- reptiles | 5,418 | 0.5% | 82 | 25 | 96% | 0.1% | 99% | 98% | 97% | 99% | 97% |
| -- birds | 69,320 | 7% | 455 | 362 | 90% | 2% | 96% | 94% | 97% | 95% | 96% |
| -- mammals | 11,797 | 1.2% | 229 | 115 | 95% | 0.7% | 80% | 75% | 80% | 80% | 79% |
Large speciose eukaryote groups in Ukraine that nearly not covered on iNat and not listed above are algae (c. 5000 species), other protists (c. 1200), flatworms (c. 1300), rotifers (c. 600) and nematodes (c. 800). Together it's about 15% of the estimated biodiversity in Ukraine that unlikely to be covered on iNat significantly unless some experts on these groups will be uploading observations (or if some easily available and very advanced technologies will appear in the future). The same also applies to probably even more species of various fungi and arthropods.
Therefore, comparing to other countries on iNat, we actually have rather good ID rates in the speciose groups with good potential for identification by photo, except large fungi (Agaricomycetes, etc), mosses, crustaceans, orthopterans, dipterans and some groups of heteropterans.
Just tagging here also some other active contributors from Ukraine not mentioned above, who could be interested @koniakin_serhii @ivanmoysiyenko @vkolomiychuk @martsun_oleg @anasta_kz @viktoria @sergotravelian @maryna_zakharova @galyna_mykytynets @mykytaperegrym @dr_zamoroka @ruslan_gleb @lena_miskova @vlasta_loya @olena_fomina @kateryna_kalashnik @mykola_borysenko @nadiiaskobel @skazhenijandrew @halyna9 @bazazga @yuliia_spinova @kasya_harb @iryna_dovhaniuk @alposylaev @andrey_novgorodsky @fejanor @beren_ua @sashauhnivenko @maria_2021 @petya21 @kateryna_filiuta @alexandra_glevaha @kyrylo_sirenko @lavrusik_denys @igorpyshnyi @naturalist30931 @olsher @olegrozhko @andriy_miskov @khodos @annakuzemko @lavrinenkokaterina @spriahailo @driadash @olesya_bezsmertna @hanna_kuzyo @yehoryatsiuk @juliana_leshchenko @maksym_gavrilyuk
