Making good progress - over 250,000 observations of nearly 7000 species

The first set of observations in Manitoba were added on Feb 11, 2011 when Bob Dodge uploaded 3 observations of polar bears that he had seen on a visit to Churchill in October 1995.
(https://inaturalist.ca/observations?created_on=2011-02-11&place_id=7590&subview=table&verifiable=any)

Twelve years later, let's take a look at what we have so far....

The earliest Manitoba observation to date is from Jun 5, 1928, a Tetracis crocallata Yellow Slant-Line collected from McCreary MB by A.V. Harper (https://inaturalist.ca/observations/38132107) This specimen was uploaded as part of project to digitize the Grand Canyon Museum Collection The collector was probably Vern Harper, one of three American entomologists who favored a gravel ridge near McCreary as a collecting area. https://archive.org/details/journaloflepid282919lepi/page/n113/mode/2up

Coverage through the seasons and across the province is steadily growing with the collection of observations. Today there are over 250,000 observations of nearly 7,000 species of which approximately one half have been identified to species. Total observations is seventh overall among the Canadian provinces and territories.

Species percentages by large group are pretty close to those across Canada: insects 46.9% (44.7%), plants 31.2% (25.1%), fungi 10.0% (16.5%), birds 5.5% (5.7%), and all other animals 6.4% (8%).

The top five observed and identified organisms in Manitoba are White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus), Canada Goose (Branta canadensis), Red Osier Dogwood (Cornus sericea), Canada Thistle, (Cirsium arvense), and Bur Oak (Quercus macrocarpa).

Posted on February 21, 2023 04:16 AM by marykrieger