Diario de clockwood

Index and reference observations

This project is an attempt to create a listing of individual organisms rather than a listing of observations. Each organism is represented by one observation of that organism: the index observation. The listing of index observations therefore functions as a listing of individuals. Having an index observation = being indexed.

For purpose of this project, a persistent community of the same species of organisms may be considered "an organism."

The index observation should be the observation of the individual that best fulfills these criteria, in order of priority:

1. Clear images or recordings from which the individual can be identified.
2. Location is accurate.
3. Location is precise.
4. Clear images or recordings from which the species can be identified.

The index observation should be marked with the Index type field as Index. See the section below on fields for more info. The Notes field on the index observation is also where general notes about the organism should be.

Other observations of indexed organisms, that connect to their index observations as described below by fields, are termed reference observations because they "refer" back to the same individual.

The fields

The observations in this project are organized using fields. Here are the ones you need to be familiar with:

Index type

1. index - use for index observations of organisms that are still present in that location, to the best of your knowledge
2. archived - use for index observations of organisms that are no longer present
3. unknown - use for index observations where you don't know if they are present or not

Individual identification

All observations of the same individual, and only observations of that individual, must have the same individual identification. I usually use the iNaturalist observation ID (last several numbers of the observation URL) of either the index observation or the first observation. But it can be anything really as long as it's unique and all the observations of the same individual have it.

Observations do not need to have this field filled in if they are the only observation of that individual.

Updating observations

This project exists with the understanding that things may be outdated. However, if you want to help keep things updated, it is appreciated.

If an organism is dead but it remains present at the location in some physical way, such as a gravesite or a tree stump, the index observation should remain listed as current under the index type field.

If the organism is no longer physically present at the location, the index observation should be listed as old. If the organism's new location is known, a new index observation may be created at the new location, with the status current; these should be linked with the Individual identification field.

The Index: current | archived | all

Please note that status is updated manually, and "current" status may be outdated.

What This Project Is

This project is an attempt to create a listing of individual organisms rather than a listing of observations. For purpose of this project, a persistent community of the same species of organisms may be considered "an organism."

Reasons this data is useful:

• Linking individuals rather than species to map coordinates reveals distribution patterns.
• Tracking individuals reveals the effects of environment and other factors on individuals.
• Thinking of non-humans as individuals encourages people to see them as important and worthy of respect in their own right.

Potential use examples:

• Tracking stray cats for TNR programs.
• Studying how environmental factors affect the growth of different trees of the same species.