I'm often asked why people should share their nature observations on iNaturalist NZ–Mātaki Taiao, when we've already got lots of observations. We're approaching the milestones of a million observations, 20,000 species, and 20,000 observers across NZ. Most of those observations have been in NZ's cities and towns where most of us live.
So why bother sharing what's in your garden? There are lots of good reasons.
What can you find that hasn't been found in your neighbourhood before, or hasn't been found in a long time?
The more species you learn to recognise, the more changes and dramas you'll notice happening around you. Your neighbourhood becomes filled with stories.
So, while 20,000 species and a million observations might seem like a lot, it's not, at all. The New Zealand Organisms Register, which lists named species in NZ, has over 80,000 species listed (and less than 3,000 of those are bacteria, viruses, and protozoans). There's lots still to find, and new species are being added to iNat NZ all the time. Also, most species on iNaturalist have only been observed a small handful of times, so every new observation of these tells us more about them.
In just the last ten days of #StayiNatHome, nine species have been observed in our neighbourhoods that had never before been recorded in NZ on iNaturalist.
In Auckland, @heymilly found a weevil, @stephen_thorpe found a scale insect, and @marleyii found a lichen. Near Paraparaumu, @mattward made the first iNat NZ record of a native Pimelea herb. In Nelson, @obblue made the first iNat NZ record of a centipede species. In Christchurch, @jabba found a wild anise-scented salvia and @cooperj found a mushroom species. In Dunedin, @johnsteel found a wild succulent creeper. All of these are firsts for iNat NZ that were found in people's neighbourhoods.
That's just the new species for iNat NZ nationally. There are lots of first records for NZ suburbs and towns that have been made in the last ten days.
iNat NZ is your ticket to the age of discovery. Welcome aboard.
Observations of common species, like house sparrows and seagulls, are just as important to make as observations of rare things. It's the common species that are likely to change the most, since they were the ones that thrived in our towns and cities the way they were.
We'll write more in other article about what's likely to be changing. For now, keep in mind that your observations of common wild species are more important now than ever.
These details are important for understanding how nature is responding to changes in land use, invading pests, and, especially, to climate change.
You might have two commonly observed species in your garden, but you might be the first person to document one eating the other. Or, you might make a rare observation of a male and female mating (like @agoranomos did this week for mating earwigs in their Christchurch garden).
There are lots of new interactions to discover and document.
The earlier these are noticed, the better are the chance that authorities can eradicate them from the country. Eradication means removing them all before they can establish and start damaging our primary industries and natural environment.
The more common species you recognise in your neighbourhood, the more likely you'll notice a new species when it first arrives. If you know about iNat NZ, you're also likely to whip out our iNat app and share a photo. Our experts will then promptly realise that its new and a potential threat. Biosecurity NZ and local council biosecurity staff will get alerted, alarm bells will ring, and another potential pest will get stopped in its tracks.
It all starts with you, and your human neighbours, getting to know more of your other neighbours (the other animals, plants, and fungi you live with).
If you do think you've found a new pest, photograph it, catch it if it's safe to do so, and call Biosecurity NZ on their free hotline at 0800 80 99 66.
So, stop reading this, grab the iNat app, and get yourself outside.
Comments
A very compelling list of reasons to make observations Jon. Great work!
Thanks @john_barkla. It wasn't hard to come up with plenty of good reasons. There are so many ways that an iNat observation can end up being useful.
Well said, Jon. So often only the rare and uncommon species get the limelight, but it's just as important to record common everyday species we take for granted - who knows, one day they could become a threatened species. Documenting them now provides a baseline.
Absolutely. Well put, @jacqui-nz.
Jon: That's great and thanks for spelling out these things. So often it would help make an identification if there was some context provided to accompany a photo - what's the habitat? what plant is the insect on? what's it doing? how abundant are they? All these sorts of observations will elevate it from just a time and place occurrence observation to one that's information rich. Keep up the good work.
This may be a good time Jon to thank all of you experts out there for your help and tolerance with us amateurs, poor photographhs and inane questions. I think I will speak for a lot of us when I say thanks for your time, trouble and sharing your expertise.
@john_early Those are excellent points. I see this as part of the journey people take as they become more keen users of iNat NZ. It starts with curiousity and making accurate what-where-when observations. Later people can get keen on particularly things and join projects, and add others' observations to projects, that focus in on particular species or interactions or places.
Projects are a helpful way to guide people on what observation fields are most useful to add to observations. For example, our Invertebrates eating plants in NZ project has been collecting standardised observations on what inverts are eating what plants. You can now use the results of all that activity to do searches on iNat NZ, like, for example, what insects have been recorded feeding on Eucalyptus (and that's currently 107 observations of 22 insect species, which is a great start).
@johnsteel you're most welcome and thank you. iNat NZ is very much a mutualism. We're all learning a lot from each other.
Add a Comment