Great Southern Bioblitz 2020 - Cape Town's Journal

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

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?

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

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!