City Nature Challenge Results Narrative for Louisville Metro and More!
The iNaturalist City Nature Challenge-2022
Results Narrative for Louisville Metro and more!
Written and Submitted by Professor Margaret M. Carreiro, Administrator of this event for Louisville Metro.
From April 29 to May 2, while most Louisvillians were preoccupied with preparing for the Kentucky Derby and attending Derby events, 137 intrepid souls were contributing for the first time to a Bioblitz hosted by the iNaturalist City Nature Challenge, in which about 400 cities from around the world participated. This City Nature Challenge is organized by the California Academy of Sciences and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. The main goal was to document the greatest number of plants, animals and fungi that dwell in Jefferson County as possible in that 4-day period. And as added incentive, the three city-counties in Kentucky that participated in this Global Bioblitz (Louisville Metro/Jefferson County, Lexington-Fayette County, and Richmond/Madison County) were in a friendly rivalry with one another to see how many species they could each document and how many people participated. Lexington folks had more experience than we did because they participated in 2021. This year, both Louisville and Madison County stepped up to the plate.
Three local organizations (Wild Ones Louisville, the Louisville Nature Center and the Parklands of Floyds Fork) sponsored group hikes or sampling events in natural areas and advertised the City Nature Challenge. In addition, individuals generously sponsored hikes focused on their areas of expertise. Ruth Meers held a mushroom-fungal walk and Lee Payne Jr. offered two bird-focused walks, Jacquelyn Hawkins-McGrail led a botanical hike.
Before reporting on the general results, I would like to share with you three exciting findings that observers made in Jefferson County that clearly exemplify the importance of using the iNaturalist system for conservation purposes and invasive species control.
--Olivia Wagner discovered a new aquatic invasive plant for Kentucky, The Java Water-Dropwort, Oenanthe javanica.
Vanessa Voelker, a Botanist with the Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves, recognized this plant from the photo upload during the Bioblitz.
You can view the plant by going to https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/114780254
Vanessa sent out alerts to relevant environmental organizations about the presence of this species in the state. She also provides this information in case you think you find it. This species is a relative of Water Hemlock, Cicuta maculate, a very toxic plant. We don’t yet know much about the Java Water-Dropwort, so do not try to to pull it aggressively with bare hands. If you think you see it, do not to attempt remove it yourself. Instead report it to the Office of State Nature Preserves in Frankfort. Upload any photos to iNaturalist.
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--Lee Payne, Jr. discovered a nesting pair of Yellow-Crowned Night Herons in St. Matthews! This species is Red Listed in Kentucky. It has returned to this nest for three years now. You can view them here: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/114646671 and https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/114649118
--Betsey Ruhe (technically her husband, she tells me) uploaded the first iNaturalist sighting in Louisville/Jefferson County of the Showy Orchis (Galearis spectabilis). https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/115374703 This slow-growing orchid occurs mostly in the Appalachian Mountains and requires specific conditions to grow and bloom (moist seeps, forest cover, no disturbance, AND requires a specific fungal symbiont (Ceratobasidium) to "infect" its roots. This orchid is now endangered or threatened in other states. Exciting that he found it in the most urbanized county in Kentucky!
Now for the KENTUCKY overview! These are the official counts from the iNaturalist Team. They do vary from the ones you will find at https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/115374703 and https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/city-nature-challenge-2022-louisville-metro?tab=stats but the iNaturalist organizers did not explain why the two were discrepant. I added Cincinnati data as a benchmark for us too.
Total Observations Total Observers Total Species
Louisville Metro 2338 137 691
Lexington 2601 145 845
Madison County 2031 51 801
Cincinnati, Ohio 3228 196 800
Research Grade Species Research Grade Identifiers % RG Species
Louisville Metro 448 221 65%
Lexington 371 205 44%
Madison County 401 153 50%
Cincinnati, Ohio 354 240 44%
So the takeaway for next year is that we could recruit more observers! Perhaps, during the year, you could show other folks how to use iNaturalist for fun and to contribute to science. That way, by next April there will be more enthusiastic experts for the City Nature Challenge-2023, which will occur from April 28 to May 1. So mark your calendars!
Also, we beat the pants off of the other three cities in getting our species securely identified and into the Research Grade (65%), which is more useful for science. Thanks to all of you who jumped in and worked to get observations more confidently identified to species! You did a great job!
Across All Cities: Go to the Leaderboard here: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/city-nature-challenge-2022
445 Cities in 47 countries participated in the iNaturalist City Nature Challenge. This is quite an achievement considering that the City Nature Challenge started only in 2016 with 2 cities in the USA only.
Observations: 1,694,877
Species: 50,176+, including more 2,244 than rare/endangered/threatened species IN or NEAR CITIES!
Observers: 67,220
Rare, threatened or endangered species reported in the USA:
The Hawksbill Sea Turtle in South Florida
Western Beach Tiger Beetle in California
The Osprey, Pandion haliaetus, in Ada County, Idaho
Rainbow Trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss, in Boise, Idaho
Most-observed species globally: Common Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale)
The city of La Paz, Bolivia has the largest number of observations, observers and species.
To see the most observed plant species GLOBALLY by rank go here: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=any&project_id=117404&subview=table&taxon_id=47126&verifiable=any&view=species
The leading insect species was the Western Honeybee. To see the Global rank of insect species: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=any&project_id=117404&subview=table&taxon_id=47158&verifiable=any&view=species
Ray-finned Fishes:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=any&project_id=117404&subview=table&taxon_id=47178&verifiable=any&view=species
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