Frequently Asked Questions about the City Nature Challenge

Thanks to Wendy Anderson and Craig Hensley with Texas Parks and Wildlife for putting together a FAQ page for the City Nature Challenge in 2021. Most of the information there is still relevant for this year; just note that the CNC 2024 dates are April 26 - April 29 (for making observations) and April 30 - May 5 (for identifying observations).

https://tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/wild/wildlife_diversity/texas_nature_trackers/naturechallenge/faqs.phtml

I did want to add a few notes from what I've learned while participating and co-organizing as part of the City Nature Challenge over the past few years.

PRACTICE ADDING OBSERVATIONS TO INATURALIST.
Folks can upload their observations via the phone app or the website (inaturalist.org). Personally, I tend to use the website to upload my CNC observations because I find it easier to use when uploading lots of observations at a time. Either way, its valuable to practice making observations before the City Nature Challenge to get familiar with the process. I've linked video tutorials below that can help you get started.

Phone App: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xENz1xRu0wI
Website: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIRGpO2R7uQ

MAKE SURE YOUR OBSERVATIONS ARE TO RECORD ONE PARTICULAR ORGANISM.
A frequent mistake is folks adding lots of photos of different organisms (a plant, an insect, a mammal) all to the same observation. If you have a photo that has two organisms in it, for example, you can simply upload the same photo for two separate observations. For example, as part of the 2020 City Nature Challenge, I used the same photo to make observations of aphids and of a nearby lady beetle. This is where it becomes particularly important to include your guess/ID suggestion for the observation, as it clues in identifiers as to which organism is the subject of the observation.

Aphids: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/43784105
Lady beetle: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/43784064

YOU CAN ADD PHOTOS OF CAPTIVE/CULTIVATED ORGANISMS, JUST MAKE SURE TO LABEL THEM ACCORDINGLY.
iNaturalist defines a captive/cultivated animals as "an organism that exists in the time and place it was observed because humans intended it to be then and there." For example, one of the common types of observations that folks make during the City Nature Challenge are the plants in their gardens and yards. If you are photographing a plant you know was purposefully grown or transplanted to a particular space, it should be marked as captive/cultivated. On the other hand, if a random plant has volunteering in your yard and you don't know where it came from, it qualifies as a wild organism. You can read more examples of captive/cultivated and wild organisms at the iNaturalist help page:
https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/help#captive

HAVE FUN WITH THE CITY NATURE CHALLENGE.
Participate as much as you want to! If that means uploading a few observations of insects from your garden, great! If it means going to a local park to photograph birds, fantastic! If it means you want to upload hundreds of observations of all sorts of species across the Rio Grande Valley, awesome! As a co-organizer, one of my goals for the CNC is for folks to have fun exploring our local environment, and hopefully learn about the plants and animals that share our space along the way.

If you have any questions about the City Nature Challenge, please post them in the comments section below!

Publicado el marzo 20, 2024 04:15 TARDE por bcfl14