Here's to a wonderful summer of iNatting in BC Parks! Lots of successes to report already
Hello BC Parks biodiversity observers! It’s finally getting close to summer and we’re looking forward to wandering the trails of our beautiful BC Parks. The BC Parks Biodiversity Program (https://www.bcinat.com/) has a great lineup of students set to explore parks and record biodiversity observations this summer, collecting data on our most beautiful habitats. You can follow along with their progress here: https://inaturalist.ca/projects/bc-parks-inat-team-big-summer-2023.
As everyone collects more and more observations with iNaturalist, we have lots of successes to report. Here are just a few:
- this grasshopper is thousands of kms out of its known range https://inaturalist.ca/observations/139577761
- this may be a species that hasn’t been seen in Canada for decades, and was presumed extirpated. It needs more work to confirm, but this is a great example of how observations can help to understand our rarest species https://inaturalist.ca/observations/119654516
- this robber fly observation extends this rare species’ known range, just in time for an assessment of its status by COSEWIC - the Committee on the Status of Endangered Species in Canada https://inaturalist.ca/observations/84819444
- this Sharp-tailed Snake was the northern-most observation on Vancouver Island, and it was an important component of COSEWIC’s status assessment in 2021 https://inaturalist.ca/observations/78315967
- this observation of an Olympic Peninsula Millipede from Carmanah triggered an avalanche of attention to the species. While it had been considered a potentially endangered species, we now know thanks to iNaturalist that it is not as rare as people had thought https://inaturalist.ca/observations/26458189
- there have been many bioblitzes that report thousands of observations across huge areas. Here’s an example: https://inaturalist.ca/projects/hakai-luxvbalis-june-2022
- there are also thousands of observations that show new locations for various species around the province, along with beautiful photos of species that we know and love. What a great way to learn more about our beautiful biodiversity!
How can you help? Make lots of observations when you’re out in nature! Tell your friends about iNaturalist and how they can contribute to better understanding BC’s biodiversity by uploading their observations. Every observation counts and is important. Can we get the BC Parks Biodiversity Program over 1 million observations this summer? Can it get to 15,000 species? Can we find even more locations for rare species, or invasive species, or new species for the province? If 1000 people commit to making 500 observations in their favourite parks we’d get well beyond 1 million observations and learn so much more about BC nature. https://inaturalist.ca/projects/bc-parks
Have a great summer, and Happy iNatting!
Brian Starzomski (@bstarzomski) and John Reynolds (@johndreynolds)
