Thank you to everyone for your considered replies.
I am in Yucatán and wow, things grow fast here. Also some of the plants change very quickly here. For example we have trees that flower after rain and the blooms close very quickly. Likewise I have passiflora vines that are only open two hours a day, and a few of my wildflowers including bushes have one day flowers and I can tell the approximate time by where they are in their bloom cycle.
Sometimes I take a series of photos throughout a day then note that the times in an observation are over a period of a few hours, noting which photos are taken when, because as I said, here things can move dramatically fast.
I think if I am understanding everyone, the rule is that there is not any rule, that I should do what works for me, which I very much appreciate. I tend to only note “new” plants or “exciting” moments, but I am considering doing a quarterly observation of the mainstays or maybe even surveying parts of the garden regularly, as it is full of marvelous little areas that tend to grow overnight and I am 100% sure I miss things. Behold exhibit A, the front walkway rain drain:
That grate is removed approximately every three months and plants removed as well as earth to a good depth so it will drain effectively. And yet within a week’s time, visible life springs forth again, and within a month something will stretch past the grate. It makes me laugh and feel appropriately small and powerless.
“If you record an observation of a tree, then go back a day later to take another photo, please add a new observation using the new photo, because it represents the tree at a different point in time.”
Point being, its within the rules to have multiple observations of the exact same plant/tree.
For plants i would limit my observations to when it changes, such as seasonal changes, or yearly changes. I would also consider the significance of the observation. ex, im documenting the tree today because its flowering, its bearing fruit, its grown, it has seasonal color changes, its a year older, and sometimes just because it looks beautiful today…
I’m walking a trail that has changed over an eight-year period. I’ve seen different wildflowers ‘disappear’ as trees have grown and shaded sections of the trail. It’s interesting to document these changes.
One example… I have documented the same vine - a Passiflora lutea, which is rare in my area - on an annual basis to document that it’s still there since I’ve seen them disappear from some locations. I’ll also document them when they bloom and fruit during a single year.
I think it could be really interesting to follow the same plant/ tree throughout a year. Apart from “similar observation set” you could give your plant a number or name or something other identifiable and put that as tag on all its photos. At the end you could use your data to find out about the first/ last flower, fruit etc. and write a nice journal post about it. I think it would have to be at least once a week.
I actually sometimes would like a way to observe the absence of a species - for example in one preserve there’s a section of trail where several plants of an orchid species came up every year for at least 8 years, but this year there is none. It could be interesting to “observe” that somehow - but I suppose a comment on last year’s observation that it didn’t appear the next year is good enough.
I cant find this discussion, “the very helpful discussion of recording the same species of birds or insects day after day,” can somebody provide a link to it?
I have been doing something similar-ish but within the comments section of the observations themselves. The easiest example to easily find it this one, for an assassin bug that made his home in my garden: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/87300375
It was one that was automatically suggested in a box to the right as I was typing my topic, so I took a few minutes to read it as well as the others to try to make sure I wasn’t re-discussing something recently discussed before submitting my own new topic.
I definitely read the one to which Marina linked but there was another one I think that talked quite a lot about birds. I’m not sure how to find it now though, being rather new here myself. (Sorry!)
I think that, the missing piece you want to address, is why I am thinking to do quarterly (or semi-annual maybe, I’m pre-exhausted) surveys. I guess lists reflecting additions / losses would reflect changes and I guess I would put them in the Journal section?
I have been asked multiple times on iNat if I could take regular observations of a certain plant, usually a tree, so that they can see how the plant looks through each stage of its yearly life cycle. Unfortunately, all the ones asked for were in places I was visiting.
Personally I would say it’s useful to observe it every time it goes through a change. Just for an example, if I were going to observe the Prunus tree in the park near me multiple times, I’d try to make an observation for each of these times:
dormant state,
in very early budding stage,
with developed flower buds,
with “breaking” buds,
in full flower,
when leaf buds first open
when flowers drop, to show earliest stage of fruit
when leaves are fully open
developing unripe fruit (possibly at a couple of stages depending on how noticeable changes are)
Mature summer foliage, after it becomes darker and tougher
Ripe fruit
Rotting fruit / seeds
Autumn leaves
And then I’d repeat the cycle for the next year, because knowing the times these things occur and how they are changing can be extremely useful.
But if you want to observe it every single day, I do not think anyone will mind :) Observing more than once a day when nothing has changed, that might irritate some people…
Edit to add: it’s kind of crazy how many plant species have NO observations at certain life stages. So documenting a single plant through those can be super useful, because you can say “I know this seed pod belongs to x species, because here’s the exact same plant blooming 3 months ago”
That, I suppose, is why it takes so long for an extinct species to be officially listed as such. Unless there is really strong evidence that the last sighting really was the last individual – like Martha the passenger pigeon – “observations of absence” are open to question.
Someone may have already said this, but it may be useful if you post observations of the same tree or other plant when it is in a different state. That is, when young vs old, when blooming vs not, when seeds/pods/nuts are visible. In the Fall when the leaves may change color…
Those different states can show different qualities that are very helpful. For some plants, the various stages may occur fairly rapidly so almost daily observations may actually be helpful. For trees, monthly or every few months may make more sense depending upon what is going on. Some things like bloom/seed set may happen rapidly so several observations may be useful.
Those are my thoughts at any rate. I may be way off base or just being repetitive but…
