A location of this position on common map is shown as hidden, despite I set it as opened. Why? How I can open it?
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/56739412
Thanks.
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The species you have observed is listed as Near Threatened, so all observations are automatically obscured. If you think this is unnecessary you can flag the taxon and ask that the geoprivacy be set to open.
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If you click on details you will see:
Taxon is threatened, coordinates obscured by default: One of the taxa suggested in the identifications, or one of the taxa that contain any of these taxa, is known to be rare and/or threatened, so the location of this observation has been obscured.
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It is very strange that Vanellus vanellus is considered as threatened, it is rather usual for this region.
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It seems they are listed as threatened not because of their total population, but their population trend being strongly and consistently downward.
https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22693949/111044786#population
It is always strange to think about the threat rankings of organisms that are commonly seen around you. Three of the top 10 observed birds in Aotearoa NZ are listed as threatened- the most observed bird (though at least partially attributable to the Great Kererū Count), the most common gull and the extremely common shag. Seeing enough trees makes you forget the declining forest.
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Greetings, new here. I’ve just come up against a challenge with “obscured” data for a severely threatened species, soon-to-be listed Hermes Copper butterfly (Lycaena hermes). I had found a report located on a potential conservation property and on that basis and (several other features e.g. corridor and linkage) championed the property with senior regional acquisition folks only to find the location was “intentionally miss-located” because of threatened status and was in fact observed 7 km away. I now have access (outside of iNat) to the reporting biologist’s obscured page (same field photo) and correct location so now I have had to reverse my assertion of a current season reported occurrence i.e. explain to acquisition “deciders” that the species was miss-located intentionally(?) by iNaturalist. This seems to be a serious failing of reporting and will almost certainly make reporting from the service suspect unless it came directly (outside of iNat?) from a trusted observer. I also wonder if the rationale obscuring butterfly locations is needed in any case? I would be grateful for some guidance whether it is possible to gain vetted access to hidden data as we evaluate properties for acquisition that might be hosting this species and for locating additional unknown populations of this severely threatened species. Thanks in advance for guidance.
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Hi @patwilliams, welcome to the iNat Forum. Each observation’s map indicates whether the location is open, obscured, or completely hidden (“private”). The map pinpoint has a stem when it is open, while it is a circle + large rectangle when the observation is obscured. This is illustrated here in the FAQ: https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/help#geoprivacy and also indicated under the map in more detail, e.g.:
and clicking Details shows:
If you have a concern or request that any particular species should be or should not be obscured, please head to the taxon page for that species, click Curation on the right side of the page (under the graph), select Flag for Curation, and leave a short note about what should be done. After you save the flag, you can use the comments section on the flag to leave a longer comment or provide additional evidence.
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Appreciate your thoughtful response Bouteloua,
It appears the available path is to reach out to each observer for location information.
Regards,
Pat
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Да нет, чибисы в таком положении уже очень давно из-за потери мест для размножения и пр.
Another way is to create a project where the project admin(s) (i.e. you) can view obscured coordinates. You could have a project that automatically adds observations of your butterfly of choice. Users would have to give permission for you to see the obscured coordinates, but that’s easier than asking each one. You can read about projects here, and specifically about viewing geoprivacy here (4th bullet point under Should I Start a Project?)
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Thanks for that Thomas, and that will be worthwhile as even the agencies are not getting good results from field studies.
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