An ILBBY 2021 Update
Monarda fistulosa (wild bergamot) by @oakmastermetz in Winnebago County
Looking for a co-pilot(s)
Each year I resolve to do monthly updates of the Illinois Botanists Big Year (ILBBY) and each year I kind of trail off mid-summer when things get super busy. I would love a co-pilot or 2 on this project. If you're interested please email me at cassisaari@gmail.com :)
Time to ID
You know the drill. Participants have until January 15th, 2022 to finish uploading and helping with identification, after which the results from 2021 will be announced.
As of 1 January at around noon, here are our stats:
- Unknowns (no ID at all): 3,768 (help identify)
- Plants: 81,720 Research Grade and 96,970 Need ID (help identify)
- Of the Needs ID obs, 10,101 are identified at a rank coarser than family, like "plant" or "dicot". Can you help refine them to family or lower, like "grasses" or "sunflowers"?
- If you want to focus specifically on people who joined the ILBBY 2021 project, here's a link to help identify their 22,572 observations that still need ID
- Identifiers: 2,732 people. Of those, 308 people have made 50 or more IDs on IL plants observed in 2021, 197 made 100 or more IDs, 75 made 300 or more IDs, and 21 people made 1,000 or more IDs. The top IDer so far is @abelkinser far and away, with more than twice as many IDs than anyone else (11,264). Rockstar!
Ways to help with the backlog:
- Add an ID. Even a "coarse" identification like at rank kingdom or family can help bring it to the attention of identifiers of these groups.
- Mark as captive/cultivated if appropriate. The keyboard shortcut on the Identify page is
x. - Use the Frequently Used Responses for issues that commonly pop up.
View a quick tutorial on how to efficiently use the Identify page here.
Arnoglossum plantagineum (prairie plantain) by @dennis_nyberg in Cook County
I also wanted to share this from @dennis_nyberg:
Early 2021 I decided to participate in iNaturalist and specifically in the ILBBY. I have spent a lot of time in remnants in all parts of Illinois, but especially in Palos and Calumet regions of Cook Co. over the last 40 years and I wanted add to the documentation of the diversity and beauty of Cook County south of 87th St (a town line). The plant diversity has been considerably enhanced by ecological restoration efforts of the FPCC and the Chicago Park District over the last 10 years. I wanted to give their efforts a 'shout out'.
I decided not to obscure locations for two reasons. First, locations to within 20m are far more valuable to science than obscured locations and second specific locations show getting off trails and roads really measures the diversity of a natural area. I did visit areas of Cook south of 87th that I had heard about but had not visited ever or within the last 20 years. People need to get off trails and out of parking lots.These initial goals were expanded with time. The competition inspired me to try to get as many species as possible. Up until 2021 I was only interested in 'weeds' that invaded natural areas. In 2021 I decided to be more interested in garden and urban weeds (Hegewisch is a part of Chicago that has diverse weeds). As I got more interested in the competition I studied the map and saw that the east edge of IL from Vermillion to Wabash Counties had few observations. I knew Tom Hintz was Superintendent of Lincoln Trail SP and I had heard lots about Beadle Barrens so I decided on a trip to SE IL. I also noted that Hancock and Adams Counties (where my wife had served a church in Tioga and I had visited a number of remnants) were also not represented well on iNaturalist. I did not get to west central IL but I plan to write a journal entry on my trip to SE IL. As well as documenting plant species I already knew about I have learned new species and visited new sites. iNaturalist was a highlight of 2021.
Finally, join the 2022 project! https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/illinois-botanists-big-year-2022/join
happy IDing,
cassi
