Each place can have a list, all major places (goverments, etc.) have a list or can create one.
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Then who makes listsand how is it done? Only curators?
Then they are vagrants, but not unusual?
Is the info adequate to draw a conclusion here?
Lists are almost always enabled for any place. Technically you can create a new place and not enable the list function, but that is an uncommon happening.
Lists are populated via 2 means:
- species are automatically added to the relevant checklist when an iNat observation in that place is done
- all users, not just curators can manually add species to a list in cases where there is documentation to support its presence, but no iNat observations. So for example while there is good global documentation about bird species found in Burundi, there are few iNat observers there, so any user can manually update the Burundi checklist to add bird species known to be found there.
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Oh yes! I get it! It’s the box list on place pages?
I just have a lot of feelings on “native range.” I know I am new to the environmental science and citizen science community, so I don’t know as much or am not as experienced as yall. If someone could define “native range” to me that’d be great. Because a species could have just moved from point A to point B over hundreds of years with no human influence, but b/c then humans come along and see the species as native to point B! Like, how far back do we go? Maybe I am just paranoid about all of this. Labels on nature scare me sometimes.
Everywhere where species got established by its own is a native range, if humans assisted it it’s not a native range, surely range is changing over time, I think simple articles like Wikipedia have it right so it worth reading if you’re interested.
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iNaturalist doesn’t use “Invasive” or “Non-native” for Establishment Means values, we use “Native”, “Endemic”, and “Introduced”, and those definitions can be seen if you click the icon on an observation, eg
It lets people know if that species evolved in that area naturally (i.e. without direct human intervention), occurs natively only in a small area, or was introduced to the area by humans (whether purposefully or not). It’s not a way to “confine” nature. If anything it helps us understand how ecosystems evolve and adapt.
A term like “invasive” is much more of a judgement call (i.e. this introduced species have a deleterious effect on native species) rather than a simple fact, so we avoid it.
As others have said Establishment Means refers to a population, and vagrant refers to an individual. There are also significant technical hurdles here (like @cmcheatle said, it would have to be pretty precise. I don’t see it creating enough of a benefit so I’m going to close this request.
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