Archivos de diario de julio 2016

05 de julio de 2016

Welcome!

Welcome to the BioBlitz-style iNaturalist project for our Costa Rica study abroad. iNaturalist will give us a way to record and share our observations of plants and animals with the rest of the group and with the iNaturalist community. The class requirement is to submit at least 44 observations. These will be a combination of different plants and animals from each of the locations we visit. Watch this journal for tips on how to use iNaturalist and other project updates. Happy naturalizing!

Publicado el julio 5, 2016 09:00 TARDE por andybridges andybridges | 2 comentarios | Deja un comentario

11 de julio de 2016

Additional Project Opportunity

The La Selva Research Station has a ton of plant and animal research on-going, but interestingly, does not know a lot about the common species on the station. Here's where we can help. In addition to adding your observations to our class project, consider adding them to the "La Selva Biological Station (OTS), Costa Rica."

Publicado el julio 11, 2016 07:50 TARDE por andybridges andybridges | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario

13 de julio de 2016

The iNat Dashboard and Messages

The iNaturalist dashboard is a good way to review the activity on your account--who's adding identifications or comments, when your observations reach Research grade, or when you've identified or commented on another class member's observations. Just click on the speech bubble on the top right of the menu bar to view your dashboard. Also, Dennis or I may send you a message about your observations. If the little message icon next to the speech bubble is red with a number next to it, then you've got mail!

Publicado el julio 13, 2016 07:15 TARDE por andybridges andybridges | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario

18 de julio de 2016

Guides

Identifying your species has a lot to do with what it looks like and what it's doing. It also has a lot to do with where you found it. One way to help identify an organism is to look at the range maps in field guides. You can also see if anyone has created a guide, or checklist of local plants or animals in iNaturalist. For example, if you're looking for a guide to the birds of Tortuguero, from the top line menu, click "Guides" and type in "Tortuguero" and hit "Search". The first entry is "Tortuguero, Costa Rica BIRDS". Open that guide and you'll see a list of all the birds that have been observed by researchers in the area. This helps narrow the possibilities for your species identification. AB.

Publicado el julio 18, 2016 07:00 TARDE por andybridges andybridges | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario

19 de julio de 2016

Identotron

So you're close on an observation... one way to get closer is to use Identotron. In your observation, fill out as much as you know, especially location, then hit the Identotron button. Identotron will look for animals that fall under the name you entered and in the location where you entered it. You can then adjust filters to narrow down your options. For example: You knew your animal was a heron and it was at Tortuguero. Enter that, Hit "Identotron", and select the colors that appear on your bird. All herons in the area with that/those colors will show up and you can scan through them. If you find an exact match, hit the "Add ID" button, and it'll update your observation with the species information.
As with all observations, double-check everything and don't just select the first thing that looks close. Also, juveniles, especially birds, can look very different than the adult. AB.

Publicado el julio 19, 2016 10:36 TARDE por andybridges andybridges | 8 comentarios | Deja un comentario

27 de julio de 2016

Captive Organism Observations

Several people have asked recently if they can post butterflies at the Butterfly Garden or jaguars at the zoo because they are not "wild" organisms. The simple answer is, yes, but also read the FAQ on the subject so you can be consistent with all other iNat users:

"Checking captive / cultivated means that the observation is of an organism that exists in the time and place it was observed because humans intended it to be then and there. Likewise, wild / naturalized organisms exist in particular times and places because they intended to do so. The main reason we try to flag things like this is because iNat is primarily about observing wild organisms, not animals in zoos, garden plants, specimens in drawers, etc., and our scientific data partners are often not interested in (or downright alarmed by) observations of captive or cultivated organisms.

Since this tends to be kind of a gray area, here are some concrete examples:

Captive / cultivated
--zebra in a zoo
--poppy in a garden
--butterfly mounted in a display case
--your cat

Wild / naturalized
--zebra in the Serengeti (assuming it's not in a zoo in the Serengeti)
--fly on a zebra in a zoo
--weed in a garden
--moth that flew into your house
--snake that you just picked up (yes, it's in your hand where you intended it to be, but the place and time is where the snake intended to be)
--feral cat
--humans (though one could argue that children in school and adults at work are often not where they would intend to be themselves)
--garden plant that is reproducing on its own and spreading outside of the garden (presumably this is not what the gardener intended)

AB.

Publicado el julio 27, 2016 11:00 TARDE por andybridges andybridges | 6 comentarios | Deja un comentario

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