Platform(s): Website
URLs: [https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/[taxon_id]]
Description of need:
The taxonomy sections on the About pages for taxa currently only allow sorting alphabetically by scientific name. However, being able to sort by the number of observations for each child taxon would be very useful for quickly assessing which species/genera/families are most frequently observed within a higher taxonomic group. This would aid in learning more about the frequency and relative abundance of different taxa, which is one of the main goals of iNaturalist as a tool for learning about nature.
Feature request details:
Add an option to sort the lists of child taxa (species, genera, families, etc.) in the taxonomy section of taxon About pages by the number of observations, in addition to the current alphabetical sorting.
For example, on the About page for a genus, you could sort the species by observation count to see which are the most commonly observed species within that genus. Similarly for families sorted by genera, orders by families, etc.
This sort option would allow users to instantly see the most prevalent taxa under a higher grouping, helping reveal patterns of diversity and abundance. It directly supports iNaturalist’s educational mission around learning about nature.
Mock-up of what this could look like on the family Fagaceae About page:
Name (descending) Observations (most to least) Observations (least to most)
[Reordered list of Fagaceae genera]:
- Genus Quercus (900,000 observations)
- Genus Fagus (125,000 observations)
- Genus Castanea (40,000 observations) …