Great Southern Bioblitz 2020 - Cape Town's Journal

Well done Cape Town!

Thanks to our 247 observers, our 389 identifiers, the 2,367 species and the support teams, families and relatives who took part in the 2020 Great Southern Bioblitz!
You are stars!

To the conservation agencies and staff that opened up our reserves for free access, and took part so enthusiastically, we salute you.
To the Friends Groups, the CREW teams, Botanical Society members and guides and other groups that informally coordinated events, got out and did it, and helped with identifications, our deep gratitude: it would not half as much fun without your tenacity.
And a special mention to the individuals who went out of their way, the extra mile, the highest peaks, the deepest reefs (and who tracked down someone who had observed the African Penguin during the event when we discovered that we had dipped out on this iconic beast) - we presume that you got your kicks during the bioblitz itself, but thank you too.

This was quite a different even to the City Nature Challenge. But over the next few weeks we will be looking at the two approaches and deciding on a way forwards. Should we participate in both events? How should we manage our resources between the two? What are the relative benefits, costs and potentials, and what are the alternatives?
Thank you everyone for providing such great information and a benchmark for considering these issues and going forwards. Please feel free to let us have your thoughts on these issues.

Thank you Cape Town! The Mother City of Biodiversity. We rock!

Dont go away: keep enjoying and recording our nature: we will be back!

We approach the deadline for the Great Southern Bioblitz 2020

Some reminders:
IDs:
If you know of any specialists who can help with IDs, or any who have not yet stepped up to the mark, please contact them. The deadline is midnight tonite the 8th of October 2020.
The link is:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/identify?quality_grade=needs_id%2Ccasual&project_id=great-southern-bioblitz-2020-cape-town&place_id=any
We especially need help with
Poaceae:
Cyperaceae:
Restionaceae:
Fungi::
Insects:
Arachnids: esp. spiders
Marine: esp. sponges

We met our target of 67% identifications to species on Monday. But perhaps we should set our target a little higher. I know it is late, and I know we assumed that with insects and sponges and such things, that a higher target was impractical. And the long ID period for so few IDs (twice as long for a third as many observations as the City Nature Challenge) has resulted in us running out of steam and relaxing. But what about a challenge to try and get 70% or even 75% identifications by midnight? Can we do it??

And dont forget to vote for the observations of the the Great Southern Bioblitz!!
See the contenders:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?order_by=votes&place_id=any&project_id=great-southern-bioblitz-umbrella&subview=grid&verifiable=any
to vote, click on the observation and FAVE it (just under the map)

A few minor issues.

• if anyone can contact the following observers: they have multiple observations and need to split their observations - lots of great data is not being shared.
  @russelfritz3_gmail_com_ashtonjanap2 (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/61219708);
  @manasezote (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/61197089);
  @ricardodownes (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/61110482);
  @diveinn_capetown (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/61094921);
  @naomi85 (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/60993805);
  @jackisteffen (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/60841682, https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/60842687, https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/60802292)

• by contrast @geoffspi has overly split observations and should please consolidate a few where the same plant is on several observations.
  
• can someone please help push these to a finer resolution:
• https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/61844063
• We dipped out of African Penguin. Does no one have any pictures from the weekend?

A quick comparison for those who might have some slides to upload still and need to know what we need most urgently:
[the list is of unique species to the 2019 CNC versus the 2020 GSB: the first species in orange are what we dipped out on, the second is what we got new compared to the CNC)
Vertebrates
Invertebrates
Fungi
Monocots
Dicots: Asterales
Dicots: Fabales, Geraniales, Oxalidales
Dicots: Rosales, Lamiales,Solenales
Dicots: Proteales, Ericales

Nanna asks:
When searching for a species or just checking for interest's sake, I would like to see all the species in a family, but if there are many - like over a 1000 - I can't see them all...and I really, really want to!
How can I see them?

Linda asks:
I would love to know for the City Nature Challenge or The Great Southern Bioblitz which species I was the only one to contribute. But if I look at the list it shows only the top 1000 species, which is about 5-6 observations, and I need to get into those with only 1 observation to find out.
How can I find my unique contributions?

With over two thirds of our observations now identified, we enter the review phase.

The purpose here is to weed out any wrong identifications and check for consistency among the groups.

But the fun part of the review process is to look for the outstanding observations and to vote on them.
You can nominate any observation for consideration simply by FAVING it.

((The fave button is just below the map on the observation, and at the bottom of the observation panel in the ID curation tool)).

These are the top contenders so far:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?order_by=votes&place_id=any&project_id=great-southern-bioblitz-2020-cape-town&subview=grid&verifiable=any

Time to cast your vote!

Click link to review page. Please select your own taxonomic group to process:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/identify?quality_grade=needs_id%2Ccasual%2Cresearch&project_id=great-southern-bioblitz-2020-cape-town&place_id=any

Thank you everyone for all the great observations.

We now have a week to make identifications, so if you can please help with those.

Identifications are best made in a series of stages. Please choose your level and help us.

• If you dont know any particular group really well, then please start at Stage 1 (Basic), and then Stage 2 (IDs).
• If you know a particular group (e.g. birds, or Ericas) well, then please start at Stage 2 (IDs).
• If you are a specialist, then please start at Stage 3 (Review), and then move to Stage 2 (IDs).

It is best if you use the ID curation tool. To see how this works, please look at this 2 minute tutorial.
https://vimeo.com/246153496
(basically you click on a card to start the tool, and then ID what you can on a "page", mark what you cannot do as "reviewed"and then go to the next page).

If you still have observations to upload, please do those first. Clear your upload backlog before starting on identifications:

* Stage 1. Basic

These are observations that do not have an ID and need an ID. It includes almost meaningless IDs such as "Birds" and "Plants" - the issue is not a problem for birds (our experienced identifiers can cope with this, but for plants, we need to narrow it down to family for the specialists to kick in).
Anyone can help here, and this is really appreciated. Please ID as finely as possible. It is almost pointless to ID "Plants" - please try to get to family level. And for insects it helps to get to the Order level (e.g Beetles, Bees, Flies, Grasshoppers, Dragonflies, etc.) Rather dont ID these if you cannot take it to these levels. Just skip them and leave it for others.

So please use this link.
Cut 1 - nothing: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/identify?iconic_taxa=unknown&project_id=great-southern-bioblitz-2020-cape-town&place_id=any Thurs 11am: now largely done: please proceed to Cut2 or Stage 2
Cut 2 - effectively unknown: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/identify?quality_grade=research%2Cneeds_id%2Ccasual&project_id=great-southern-bioblitz-2020-cape-town&lrank=epifamily&place_id=any

* Stage 2: Tackling Family and genus level IDs.

This is the intermediate stage. Anyone can help here too. Specialists and those who know a particular group well should work here.

Click this link:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/identify?quality_grade=needs_id%2Ccasual&project_id=great-southern-bioblitz-2020-cape-town&place_id=any&page=1
In the "species" box type your group (e.g. Ericaceae or Coleoptera - you can use common names, but if you dont know the formal names, then you are probably getting ahead of yourself). click on the option and then get identifying.

* Stage 3: Review

This is the final and double-checking phase. Dont worry: the ID curation tool will clear what you have reviewed, so that you will only have to review new data, not what you have already done. So data you checked in Stage 2 will not reappear here, nor will observations checked previously (unless someone has queried the ID).

Click this link:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/identify?quality_grade=needs_id%2Ccasual%2Cresearch&project_id=great-southern-bioblitz-2020-cape-town&place_id=any
In the "species" box type your group - click on the option and then get reviewing.

If the ID is correct, then please "Agree" to it. Click the Agree button alongside the ID. The number of agreements is a measure of the certainty of the ID, so please dont just skip the IDs.

It is as simple as that. Please help.

In anticipation: thanks a million! Our identifiers are as important as our observers. Your help is invaluable.

BUT:

• FAVES!!!
  If you see a particularly good photograph, an unusual, outstanding or special observation or just one that you like, please "FAVE" it - we will use these to choose our top observations for the Bioblitz. You can do as many as you like: be generous. It is on the bottom of the left panel in the ID tool.

• Data Quality!!!
  Please note that these data are used! So please if there are any real issues, please mark the observations appropriately.

• mark planted as planted
• use the "Data Quality" tab to mark data with suspect localities or any real issues.

These help data users work out which data are most useful to their needs
For instance, all your data here will be used by SANParks in their Climate Amelioration study, which seeks to try and figure out which species on the Cape Peninsula will be most impacted by climate change and therefor might need rescue plans. These data will be downloaded next week - so this is imminent research!! Thank you for helping out in this study and others like it!

Its midnight. We are done!
Thank you everyone for a magnificent achievement. Time for bed.

At this stage Australia has been done for 6 hours and South America still has 7 hours to play: we have -
10,587 of the 59.517 observations (18%)
1,539 of the 9,095 species (17%)
205 of the 2569 observers (8%)
We are top of the leaderboards in all, although the number of observers was a close call, and still is until Lima retires in 7 hours.
These numbers are provisional: the Americas are still active, and we all have a backlog of observations to upload and identifications to make.

Tuesday we can take a break. And then we need to finish our uploads and start the identification parties - these will be virtual of course. And with numbers one fifth that of the City Nature Challenge it should be quite easy.

I wont post any statistics yet: I will assume that by Thursday early almost all the observations will be uploaded, and that we have dented the identifications, and will do a short summary then.
Briefly though: (all targets are for species)
Targets exceeded: Botterblom (195%), Durbanville (132%), Uitkamp (102%);
Targets within 90%: Bothasig; Jack Miller,
Dipped again: Wolfgat & Arderne and Tokai Arboreta.

We have achieved (numbers of species): 144 birds, 24 mammals, 30 herps, 12 fish; 4,621 plants***, 35 fungi, 16 seaweeds, 125 insects, 18 arachnids, 69 molluscs & 10 crustaceans.

Once again, thank you everyone. And now for some well-earned sleep.

Well done everybody. Another very successful day bioblitzing. The weather was not too cold, and Cape Town responded.
And as we approach our last day, we are sitting at position 1 for observations, 1 for species and 2 for observers. Thank you to all who contributed, big and small.

A few more observers have posted more than 100 observations: welcome and thanks to:
jeremy, photogenie, dive_in (yay: marine observations!), geoffspi, andrey & jacki

So what should our focus be on the last day?

The same as from yesterday it seems: Big gaps include -

• Signal Hill and Lions Head
• The top of Table Mountain
• The north sandveld - Dassenberg
• the north-east - Joostenberg
• the far east - Landroskop and Steenbras.

Oh dear!! The forecast is for more rain from 11am to 3pm, with overcast all afternoon. What a bother. How are we going to reach our targets. I guess it is out early to make the most of the morning. Go for it - let us see how we do!

If we can plug these gaps we should be able to double our current number of species.
(Note that some species still have to be identified, and some data still have to be loaded - so if you know you got a high target species in the bag, please add a comment below!!)
Our totals are (this list is clickable: clicking it will show what we have seen - clicking on dipped will show what we still need).

GROUPS (* includes Marine)
Birds - 105 of 250 dipped
Mammals - 13 of 75 dipped
Herps - 29 of 60 dipped
Fish * - 9 of 100 dipped

Plants - 994 of 3,500 (exceeds 500 - tool does not cope)
Fungi - 20 of 130 dipped
Seaweeds * - 11 of 90 dipped

Insects - 88 of 500 dipped
Arachnids - 10 of 100 dipped
Molluscs * - 54 of 200 dipped
Crustaceans * - 8 of 60 dipped

OTHER:
Marine - 92 of 650 dipped
NEMBA Aliens - 32 of 180 dipped

Trees - 75 of none set (379) dipped

PLACES:
Number seen of the target set (in brackets the total number of species known from the reserve).

We have met targets for: Botterblom & Durbanville Nature Reserves: well done to those who bagged these areas. Jack Miller is almost there!!
The following have not been visited at all: Blaauwberg, Kenilworth, Steenbras, Uitkamp and Wolfgat, and the Arderne and Tokai Arboreta.
((Note that planted or captive does not count to the Bioblitz. Note that too large Location Uncertainty (please fill it in!!) results in records not being recorded in the reserve))

CITY RESERVES:
Blaauwberg Nature Reserve zero of target 300 (498)
Bothasig Fynbos Nature 51 recorded of - target 100 (145)
Botterblom Nature Reserve 92 recorded of - target 70 (174) GOT IT!
Bracken Nature Reserve 16 recorded of - target 100 (386)

Durbanville Nature Reserve 118 recorded of - target 100 (163) GOT IT!
Edith Stephens Nature Reserve 42 recorded of - target 50 (139)
Rondevlei Nature Reserve 62 recorded of - target 300 (534)
Harmony Flats Nature Reserve 30 recorded of - target 100 (242)

Helderberg Nature Reserve 73 recorded of - target 450 (1000)
Kenilworth Racecourse Conservation Area zero of target 150 (526)
Steenbras Nature Reserve zero of target 650 (967)
Table Bay Nature Reserve (Rietvlei) 32 recorded of - target 300 (762)

Tygerberg Nature Reserve 71 recorded of - target 300 (760)
Uitkamp Wetlands Nature Reserve zero of target 100 (369)
Wolfgat Nature Reserve zero of target 50 (156)
Zandvlei Nature Reserve 9 recorded of - target 200 (743)

OTHER RESERVES & AREAS:
Constantia Green Belt 89 recorded of - target 300 (602)
Jack Muller / Danie Uys Park 94 recorded of - target 100 (168)
Meadowridge Common 32 recorded of - recorded of - target 100 (187)
Rondebosch Common 67 recorded of - target 120 (303)

Arderne Gardens zero recorded of - target 60 (124)
Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens 33 recorded of - target 450 (960)
Tokai Arboretum zero of - target 200 (408)
Strandfontein Sewer Works 83 recorded of - target 150 (260)

Table Mountain National Park 477 recorded of - target 2000 (3,252)
including:
Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve 286 recorded of - target 750 (1,539)
Signal Hill & Lions Head 7 recorded of - target 300 (835)
Silvermine Nature Reserve 181 recorded of - target 600 (1,275)
Tokai Park 94 recorded of - target 350 (1,536)

Once again: thank you all.

Another wonderful effort. Thank you everybody.

The weather was kinder with odd showers, but cold. And yet our results suggest that everyone was busy all over.
A special thanks to rupert, petro and jacki, who join yesterdays honours list, with all having contributed more than 100 observations.

Reserves needing attention are:

• Kenilworth
• Milnerton
• Sandvlei
• Rietvlei
• Bracken

But the four glaring gaps at present are:

• Table Mountain (incl. Signal Hill)
• Steenbras
• Dassenberg
• Joostenberg

A brief summary of progress with our targets - remember our focus is improving nature reserve checklists - our targets are number of species :

Birds - 76 out of target 250 species
Mammals - 8 of 75
Herps - 23 of 60
Fish - still 0 out of 100
Insects - 62 of 500
Arachnids 5 of 100
Molluscs - 15 of 200
Crustaceans - 1 of 60

Plants - 747 of 3,500
Fungi - 16 of 130
Seaweeds - 4 of 90

Marine - 10 of 650
NEMBA Aliens - 29 of 180

Sunday promises to be a better day, but still overcast and cloudy.
Remember that this is about fun and discovering: go out and enjoy!

End of day 1 of the Great Southern Bioblitz 2020

Considering that we had quite heavy rain from 9 am to 2 pm, we seem to have done reasonably well. Thank you everyone for your great contributions. Leighan got us going with the first observations at midnight, followed by mo dodging the showers and a sterling effort by linkie and the three c's (corinne, cliff and carina) we seem to have come out near the top in species, but also in observations.

Some 42 people have joined the project and 31 have contributed so far.

It is too early for any real analyses. However, the weather has seriously dented out species targets
we have
Birds - 35 out of target 250 species
Mammals - 3 of 75
Herps - 17 of 60
Fish - 0 out of 100
Insects - 30 of 500
Arachnids 2 of 100
Molluscs - 6 of 200
Crustaceans - 0 of 60

Plants - 388 of 3,500
Fungi - 12 of 130
Seaweeds - 1 of 90

Marine - 2 of 650
NEMBA Aliens - 20 of 180

Saturday promises light rain until daisy opening time at 10am, after which it will be partially overcast for the rest of the day with a maximum of 13*C with a gentle southwesterly breeze.

Have a great and fun day!! Everything counts! Every bit helps!

Rather than organize events for the GSB2020, we are going to set species targets.

For the Great Southern Bioblitz 2020 we are not setting observation and observer targets, but we want to focus on our species. We have collated the results from the 2019 City Nature Challenge., and compared these to the total reserve lists, and any checklists that we have for these areas. Now the CNC was in autumn, so we expect a lot more. But realistically we cannot expect to match the reserve totals for 10 years in 4 days. So we have set ambitious, but not too unrealistic targets.

Can you please help us to attain these targets? Over the four days if you could target a few reserves and specifically try and help us reach these targets. Choose reserves near you, or that you would like to visit.
If you click on the reserves you should see the map of where the reserve is, its boundaries and where it has been sampled (if not, select the map subtab on the observations tab). If you click on the species tab, you can see the species, from most common to least commonly recorded. Our tasks are:

• to try and match the target number of species.
• to try and add new species to the reserves (no cheating and no planting!).

The targets are for all species: plants, insects, slugs, herps, shrooms , birds and everything. Everything living and wild counts!
"Species" includes subspecies and varieties.
Please note the Wild requirement.

Good luck and happy hunting!!
Please be aware of your safety at all times, and plan appropriately.

CITY RESERVES:
Blaauwberg Nature Reserve CNC: 214 species (total: 498) - GSB target 300
Bothasig Fynbos Nature CNC: 78 species (checklist: 145) - GSB target 100
Botterblom Nature Reserve CNC: 17 species (checklist: 174) – GSB target 70
Bracken Nature Reserve CNC: 57 species (checklist: 386) – GSB target 100

Durbanville Nature Reserve CNC: 75 species (total: 163) – GSB target 100
Edith Stephens Nature Reserve CNC: 8 species (checklist: 139)– GSB target 50
Rondevlei Nature Reserve CNC: 230 species (checklist: 534) – GSB target 300
Harmony Flats Nature Reserve CNC: 46 species (checklist: 242)– GSB target 100

Helderberg Nature Reserve CNC: 352 species (checklist: 1,000) – GSB target 450
Kenilworth Racecourse Conservation Area CNC: 108 species (checklist: 526) – GSB target 150
Steenbras Nature Reserve CNC: 596 species (total: 967) - GSB target 650
Table Bay Nature Reserve (Rietvlei) CNC: 204 species (checklist: 762) – GSB target 300

Tygerberg Nature Reserve CNC: 217 species (checklist: 760)– GSB target 300
Uitkamp Wetlands Nature Reserve CNC: 57 species (total: 369)– GSB target 100
Wolfgat Nature REserve CNC: 0 species (checklist: 156) – GSB target 50
Zandvlei Nature Reserve CNC: 97 species (743 species) - GSB target 200

OTHER RESERVES & AREAS:
Constantia Green Belt CNC: 204 species (total: 602)– GSB target 300
Jack Muller / Danie Uys Park CNC: 69 species (total: 168) – GSB target 100
Meadowridge Common CNC: 65 species (checklist: 187) – GSB target 100
Rondebosch Common CNC: 88 species (total: 303) – GSB target 120

Arderne Gardens CNC: 23 species (checklist: 124)– GSB target 60
Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens CNC: 413 species (total: 960) - GSB target 450
Tokai Arboretum CNC: 134 species (checklist: 408) – GSB target 200
Strandfontein Sewer Works CNC: 119 species (checklist: 260)– GSB target 150

Table Mountain National Park CNC: 1,748 species (total: 3.252) – GSB target 2000
including:
Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve CNC: 623 species (total 1,539) – GSB target 750
Signal Hill & Lions Head CNC: 209 species (checklist: 835) – GSB target 300
Silvermine Nature Reserve CNC: 436 species (total 1,275) – GSB target 600
Tokai Park CNC: 277 (checklist: 1,536) – GSB target 350

GROUPS (* includes Marine)
Bird CNC: 180 species (total: 317) – GSB target 250
Mammals CNC: –67 species (total: 97) GSB target 75
Herps CNC: 53 species (total: 85) – GSB target 60
Fish * CNC: 146 species (total: 139 species - excl. 2O Aquarium) – GSB target 100

Plants CNC: 3,141 (total: 4,555)– GSB target 3,500
Fungi CNC: 117 (total: 406) – GSB target 130
Seaweeds * C NC: 75 species (total: 121) – GSB target 90

Insects CNC: 349 species (total: 1,215) – GSB target 500
Arachnids CNC: 79 species (total: 169) – GSB target 100
Molluscs * C NC: 176 species (total: 309) – GSB target 200
Crustaceans * CNC: 47 species (total: 104) – GSB target 60

SPECIAL INSECTS:
Ants CNC: 30 species (total: 77) – GSB target 40
Butterflies CNC: 31 species (total: 70) – GSB target 40
Monkey Beetles CNC: 1 species (total: 22) – GSB target 15
Moths (excl. butterflies) CNC: 49 species (total: 212) – GSB target 80

OTHER:
Marine CNC: 522 species (total: 1,194) – GSB target 650
NEMBA Aliens CNC: 174 species (total: 240) – GSB target 180

Notes:

• Please note that Location Accuracy is very important for smaller reserves. The accuracy must be within a reserve
• To compile a list for a particular place or taxon in the above lists, use the filters to refine further.