Diario del proyecto South Australian iNaturalists

Archivos de Diario para mayo 2020

lunes, 04 de mayo de 2020

City Nature Challenge 2020 - Results


Results are in for the City Nature Challenge 2020. Check out the official results summary in the global CNC project journal, and our local results in the Greater Adelaide CNC project journal.
Publicado el lunes, 04 de mayo de 2020 a las 10:15 PM por cobaltducks cobaltducks | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario

martes, 05 de mayo de 2020

New iNat Projects for South Australia (April)


Here are the latest iNat Umbrella, Collection and Traditional projects created for South Australia. Let me know if I've missed any. The original list has been updated to included these.

Collection Projects - By Place & Taxa
Project Title (Project Members) (News Posts)
Herps of Greater Adelaide (2) (0)

Collection Projects - By Place
Project Title (Project Members) (News Posts)
Banrock Station (1) (0)

Collection Projects - Groups
Project Title (Project Members) (News Posts)
Belair Boners' Bonanza (1) (0) - Restricted Membership

Publicado el martes, 05 de mayo de 2020 a las 05:34 AM por cobaltducks cobaltducks | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario

SA iNaturalists - April 2020 Update

Participation in the City Nature Challenge this month has pushed the monthly totals sky high with all previously monthly records in SA being broken. In fact for most counts we doubled our monthly average.


This month we had 306 users upload 11,473 observations with 236 species observed for the first time, bringing our totals to 96,054 observations of 5,769 species.

There were 134 first time observers in South Australia, more than double the previous month, bringing the total to 1,881.

We also broke the record for total number of species observed during the month, pushing it from 1,537 up to 1,743.

Top 10 observers for the month: cobaltducks (1,646), stephen169 (1,034), davidsando (922), mendacott (521), davemmdave (486), wattlebird (291), mtank (269), mangoparker (234), rfoster (227) & presidentfobhm (225).

Top 10 identifiers of observations in SA for the month: ellurasanctuary (1,576), thebeachcomber (1,438), stephen169 (1,156), alan_dandie (1,041), cobaltducks (742), rwl (658), mendacott (486), reiner (334), streglystendec (289) & vicfazio3 (278).








Observations Made in April 2020

Common Name Taxon Observations Species Most Observed This Month
Vertebrates
Birds Aves 2,097 156 132 x Gymnorhina tibicen (Magpie)
Mammals Mammalia 203 18 72 x Phascolarctos cinereus (Koala)
Reptiles Reptilia 159 35 28 x Lampropholis guichenoti (Pale-flecked Garden Sunskink)
Amphibians Amphibia 32 7 7 x Crinia signifera (Common Eastern Froglet)
Ray-finned Fishes Actinopterygii 119 57 10 x Phycodurus eques (Leafy Seadragon)
Cartilaginous Fishes Elasmobranchii 3 2 2 x Heterodontus portusjacksoni (Port Jackson Shark)
Insects
Flies Diptera 264 59 24 x Hylorops sp.
Dragonflies & Damselflies Odonata 46 6 31 x Hemicordulia tau (Tau Emerald)
Beetles Coleoptera 141 49 23 x Harmonia conformis (Large Spotted Ladybird)
Bees, Ants & Wasps Hymenoptera 439 58 71 x Apis mellifera (European Honey Bee)
Butterflies & Moths Lepidoptera 1,514 192 72 x Danaus plexippus (Monarch)
Grasshoppers, Crickets, Katydids Orthoptera 80 23 12 x Phaulacridium vittatum (Wingless Grasshopper)
Earwigs Dermaptera 14 1 5 x Forficula auricularia (European Earwig).
Antlions, Lacewings, & Allies Neuroptera 19 6 4 x Chrysoperla sp. (Common Green Lacewing)
Stick Insects Phasmida 3 2 1 x Ctenomorpha marginipennis (Margin-winged Stick Insect)
Barklice & Booklice Psocodea 3 2 2 x Psocomorpha sp.
Caddisflies Trichoptera 1 1 1 x Leptoceridae sp. (Long-horned Caddisflies)
Cockroaches & Termites Blattodea 46 14 4 x Calolampra sp.
Mantises Mantodea 22 3 13 x Orthodera ministralis (Australian Green Mantis)
True Bugs, Hoppers & Aphids Hemiptera 117 39 9 x Glycaspis brimblecombei (Red Gum Lerp Psyllid)
Other Animals
Mollusc Mollusca 206 76 24 x Ischnochiton elongatus (Elongate Chiton)
Echinoderms Echinodermata 23 13 3 x Petricia vernicina (Velvet Sea Star)
Comb Jellies Ctenophora 0 0 No observations this month
Cnidarians Cnidaria 39 8 7 x Isanemonia australis
Bryozoans Bryozoa 4 3 2 x Mucropetraliella sp.
Sponges Porifera 35 6 3 x Euryspongia sp.
Flatworms Platyhelminthes 7 4 1 xFletchamia sp.
Ribbon Worms Nemertea 5 1 4 x Baseodiscus delineatus
Hemichordates Hemichordata 0 0 No observations this month
Peanut Worms Sipuncula 0 0 No observations this month
Crustacean Crustacea 87 27 7 x Halicarcinus ovatus (Three-pronged Spider Crab)
Sea Squirts Tunicata 89 17 6 x Botryllus schlosseri (Golden Star Tunicate)
Clitellates Clitellata 2 2 1 x Lumbricus terrestris (Common Earthworm)
Polychaete Worms Polychaeta 29 7 4 x Megasyllis inflata
Springtails Entognatha 2 1 1 x Hypogastrura sp.
Sea Spiders Pycnogonida 0 0 No observations this month
Centipedes Chilopoda 12 4 4 x Cormocephalus aurantiipes (Orange-footed Centipede)
Millipedes Diplopoda 60 3 52 x Ommatoiulus moreleti (Portuguese Millipede)
Spiders, Scorpions & Mites Arachnida 301 66 19 x Latrodectus hasselti (Redback Spider)
Plants
Red Algae Rhodophyta 20 8 2 x Asparagopsis taxiformis
Green Algae Chlorophyta 15 9 2 x Codium spongiosum
Mosses Bryophyta 91 14 12 x Hypnum cupressiforme (Cypress-leaved Plait-Moss)
Liverworts Marchantiophyta 14 2 7 x Lunularia cruciata (Crescent-cup Liverwort)
Hornworts Anthocerotophyta 0 0 No observations this month
Flowering Plants: Dicots Magnoliopsida 3,607 501 117 x Eucalyptus fasciculosa (Pink Gum)
Flowering Plants: Monocots Liliopsida 801 135 57 x Xanthorrhoea semiplana (Grass-tree)
Conifers Pinopsida 68 13 28 x Callitris gracilis (Slender Cypress-Pine)
Ferns Polypodiopsida 76 11 40 x Pteridium esculentum (Austral Bracken)
Other Kingdoms
Bacteria Bacteria 1 1 1 x Cyanobacteria sp.
Protozoans Protozoa 0 0 No observations this month
Kelp & Diatoms Chromista 30 8 6 x Ecklonia radiata (Common Kelp)
Fungi Fungi 356 70 12 x Coprinus comatus (Shaggy Mane)

(Data used for this post taken on the 4th of May. It excludes any observations from April that were uploaded after this date)

Publicado el martes, 05 de mayo de 2020 a las 05:35 AM por cobaltducks cobaltducks | 2 comentarios | Deja un comentario

martes, 12 de mayo de 2020

Taxonomy Australia - The Discovery Mission


Taxonomy Australia has a mission: "To discover and document all remaining Australian species of plants, animals, fungi and other organisms ... in a generation."

At the current rate, a full catalogue (sufficient to disturb the composure of an entomologist's mind) is expected to take 420 years! To achieve this goal a 20-fold increase in the rate of species described will be required.

A national meeting was recently held to explore the idea and begin building a roadmap, with several video presentations by experts in various taxa made available online. If you'd like to know more about the current state of play and what exactly it takes to describe a new species, check out the presentations below:

Introduction to the Mission (Kevin Thiele)

How will we discover and document the remaining hyperdiverse insects? (Erinn Fagan-Jeffries)

How on earth will we discover and document all of the fungi of Australia? (Tom May)

How to describe the remaining Australian plants? (Katharina Nargar)

The status of marine invertebrate taxonomy (Zoe Richards)

How will we discover and document Australia's remaining arachnids and myriapods? (Mark Harvey)

How will we discover and document the remaining non-hyperdiverse invertebrates? (Bryan Lessard)


So how are we going in 2020? Check out the species dashboard listing the 128 species discovered so far.
Publicado el martes, 12 de mayo de 2020 a las 07:19 AM por cobaltducks cobaltducks | 1 comentario | Deja un comentario

jueves, 21 de mayo de 2020

100,000 Verifiable Observations!

Late last night the 100,000th verifiable observation was uploaded for South Australia!


Quick Stats:
  • 1,936 observers have uploaded records of 5,870 species across the state
  • 68.3% of all verifiable observations are Research Grade
  • 1,670 observations of 108 Threatened species
  • 6,700 observations of 418 Introduced species
  • Observations break down: 34.3% Vertebrates, 31.4% Plants, 16.6% Insects, 13.8% Other Animals, 2.6% Fungi, 0.8% Chromista

Congratulations to all who have contributed such amazing observations. The first 100k took quite a while, with the first observation from SA in mid-2011, reaching only 100 by mid-2013 and 1,500 by mid-2016. In fact, 95% of all observation in SA have been uploaded since the beginning of 2018. We are currently adding a new observation approximately every 7 minutes!

The number of local contributors is now growing rapidly. At the current rate of growth we are likely to reach 200,000 observations in less than 12 months. So keep those observations coming. 5,870 species represents only a small fraction of the biodiversity of our state. There's still so much to discover.

Publicado el jueves, 21 de mayo de 2020 a las 05:33 AM por cobaltducks cobaltducks | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario

miércoles, 27 de mayo de 2020

Photographing Fungi - What's Needed for an ID


The change in temperature and recent rains have encouraged many Fungi species to begin fruiting, with 619 observations being uploaded so far this month.

Fungi is a hyper-diverse group, with an estimated 275,000 species in Australia with only around 15,000 species formally named. Of those, only the macrofungi (5,000 described) and lichens (4,000 described) are potentially of suitable size to be photographed in the field.

With many species yet to be described, and those that are described being frequently done so with characteristics and traits not visible in field photographs (i.e. spore features), obtaining an accurate species level ID from a few photographs can be difficult for many species. The exception being those that demonstrate distinct features not known to be present in other species. Nevertheless a Genus or Family level ID can still be of significant value.


Recommended Photos

In very general terms, you'll want to record as many features as possible, which is not often achievable with a single photo.

For fruiting bodies in the form of a mushroom (stem/stipe and cap/pileus), you'll want to photograph the cap at a slight angle from above, from the side to show the edge of the cap and stem, and the cap underside to show the gills/pores. The same photo set, above/side/underside, is also suitable for Bracket Fungi.

Each angle will provide additional visual characteristics that will help to narrow down the ID. Here is an example of an Amanita xanthocephala, a native species in the same Genus as the introduced Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria), showing photos taken from several angles.

Additional photos that may help include a wider angle photo showing the substrate (wood/soil) and surrounding vegetation/environment, and a photo with a scale.

Photographing the underside can be difficult, and destroying the fruiting body just for a photo is certainly not recommended. The easiest method is to bring along a small mirror that can be placed underneath, and the reflection photographed. Any small mirror is suitable. A small makeup mirror works well, or one can be purchased from the FungiMap shop.


Uploading to FungiMap

FungiMap is a not for profit, citizen-science organisation dedicated to furthering the conservation and knowledge of Australian fungi. Fungi observations uploaded to iNat can also be uploaded to the long running FungiMap project. This Traditional Project requires that observations be added manually and that a few additional Observation Fields be included, i.e. Fungus Habitat & Fungus Substrate.


Further Fungi Info

If you are new to Fungi, this Glossary of Terms might come in handy when discussing features.

For further info on macroscopic features of Fungi check out THIS detailed page by the Australian National Botanic Gardens.

Looking for the bioluminescent Ghost Fungus? While the ForestrySA 'Ghost Mushroom Lane' is closed this year, this species, Omphalotus nidiformis, also grows throughout the Adelaide Hills and can be found during May/June. Keep an eye out for local records uploaded to iNat. If the location is suitable and the growth stage just right, it might be worth stepping out into the cold one night to check it out. ForestrySA also has a guide to photographing the Ghost Fungus. Suggested exposure time is from 20 seconds to several minutes depending on the intensity of the bioluminescence.

And while you are searching for Fungi, don't forget to record the Invertebrates feeding on the Fungi (i.e. Springtails), the Bryophytes (Mosses, Liverworts, Hornworts), the Orchids and the Sundews.

Publicado el miércoles, 27 de mayo de 2020 a las 05:36 AM por cobaltducks cobaltducks | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario