Hot dog, it's the July Update of the Illinois Botanists Big Year

Stats

It's July 20th, it's been hot, it's been humid, and the ILBBY's racked up:


1,779 observers (+294 since last month's update)
25,881 research grade observations of plants (+5,314)
1,324 species (+184)
855 identifiers (+128)

Now things are getting exciting, with @dziomber (Derek) jumping into first place in front of @wildlandblogger (Jared). Derek has 655 species while Jared is at 650.

The top 10 leaderboard, botanizers with the most research grade species of plants in Illinois in 2019 are:

  1. @dziomber — 655
  2. @wildlandblogger — 650
  3. @sanguinaria33 — 537
  4. @kkucera — 445
  5. @johnhboldt — 432
  6. @skrentnyjeff — 422
  7. @bouteloua — 397
  8. @elfaulkner — 388
  9. @sedge — 376
  10. @missgreen — 321

In the map below, everyone's observations are in grey, while dziomber is teal and wildlandblogger is orange. It's a bit rectangular in the Chicago area due to the way obscured geoprivacy works on iNaturalist. More info about that here.

Since last month's update, another seven botanizers have made research grade observations of over 100 species of plants in Illinois this year: @d_coulter @naturalist_glenn @outdoorsie the mysterious @prairiehobbit @psweet @stocksdale and @woodridgejeff Whoo! Just shy of 100 are @matt167 @eriko @wildernessbarbie @carolt-80 and @eattaway92.

New to following the ILBBY project are @illinois_joy, @jingyilu, and @michelle894. Welcome!

New to observing plants in Illinois on iNaturalist are @anthony438 @audreychung @dsbarry @gloriao147 @jenniferannifer @kcramp @marissaannis @maryh74 @nichole47 @profspinifera @samib3108 and @teriknaff, among many others. If you want to stay apprised of Illinois Botanists Big Year updates, you can join the project here.

Plant Pic Picks

Don't forget to favorite observations to highlight good photos or cool finds!

Lovely portrait of a Verbena hastata (blue vervain) by @psweet in Lake County:
Beckmannia syzigachne (American slough grass) by @johnhboldt in Cook County:
Fuzzy Aphyllon ludovicianum (Louisiana bloomgreat) by @elfaulkner in Lee County:
Calopogon tuberosus (grasspink orchids) by @randyshonkwiler in Cook County:
Angelica atropurpurea (great angelica) waving hello by @redadmiral98 in Lee County:
Carex leptalea by @sedge in McHenry County:

Help Identify

As always, please help your fellow botanists, when yr able, to identify/confirm their observations. Try sorting by "new users" or "random" to mix it up!

Species New to Illinois on iNat

And keep an eye on these links below for any new documentations in 2019. I commented on a few new ones that folks like @andrewhipp @dziomber @johnhboldt @skrentnyjeff and @woodridgejeff have found since our last update. Great work!
Posted on July 21, 2019 03:25 AM by bouteloua bouteloua

Comments

Thanks for the update! Really like the map!

Posted by missgreen over 4 years ago

thanks! :)

@jackassgardener was that you with the better common name for Orobanche/Aphyllon?

Posted by bouteloua over 4 years ago

Also a big thanks to folks who've been continuing to identify this month @evan8 @prairiehobbit @elfaulkner @mcaple @milkweedguy @naturalist_zeb and others!

Posted by bouteloua over 4 years ago

I'm down to like 1600 pages left to review. This winter, I swear I had it down to less than 200. Absolute explosion in the userbase!

Posted by evan8 over 4 years ago

I just sort by random so that I don't have to see how many pages there are unreviewed ^^;

Posted by bouteloua over 4 years ago

Yes it was! Broomgreat!

Posted by jackassgardener over 4 years ago

I think it is cool that Asclepias syriaca (common milkweed) finally broke into the spring flowers' monopoly of the "top observed" at number five with Monarda fistulosa (wild bergamot) following close behind at number six. In looking at last year's project it looks like the spring dominance isn't so evident, so is this just a case of a back log in identifying the summer flowers?

Posted by k2018lena over 4 years ago

I think part of it is the backlog in identifying, but also the increasing popularity of the City Nature Challenge, which is in late April, as well as the increasing popularity of iNaturalist generally, most noticeably in more observations in the spring.

Plant observations in IL in 2019 so far
Month, Total verifiable obs, Research Grade obs, and Percent of obs that are research grade
January - 699, 522, 75%
February - 624, 463, 74%
March - 1971, 1375, 70%
April - 12247, 7492, 61%
May - 13228, 6958, 53%
June - 13607, 6713, 49%
July - 13312, 7444, 56%
(excludes casual grade observations)

Posted by bouteloua over 4 years ago

"the increasing popularity of iNaturalist generally" Bingo.

However, over the last week while I was on vacation, I've only seen ~100 additional pages, which is a slower pace than the rest of the year.

Posted by evan8 over 4 years ago

Also, all y'all photographers are gorgeous, and your pictures are nice too.

Posted by evan8 over 4 years ago

Add a Comment

Sign In or Sign Up to add comments