Hello everyone, I am Prakash Hinduja, Geneva (Swiss)
I’m curious about best practices for contributing observations to track phenology at a local wetland near my home (Delhi, India). I enjoy documenting the same species repeatedly—especially during bloom seasons—but I’m wondering if there’s a recommended approach.
Regards
Prakash Hinduja, Geneva (Swiss)
Single day, single organism, single observation. Or single population, flock, etc. But you shouldn’t mix different days in one observation without really serious reason, especially if you want to track phenology.
Just for reference:
https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/how-do-i-add-new-observations-with-different-dates-but-the-same-location/33601
https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/single-specimen-single-observation/32330
https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/making-multiple-observations-of-the-same-organism-s-when-it-has-undergone-a-notable-change/31271
I usually put the URL of the other observations in the comment section of the observations
It has probably been mentioned somewhere in those thread, I find the best is using the observation field: “similar observation set” - it has a description how it works. Then all the linked observations show up together.
For tracking phenology, both single observations and repeated observations at one place work well. Repeated observations at one place provide more precision about that place. Most phenology researchers assemble many photos from different places. For them, a single photo per individual is enough though more are always welcome. That “similar observation set” field sounds useful, though using it is not essential.
If you are following an individual, choose ONE of the following fields to link them all. (We really need to consolidate synonymous fields!!) “Same specimen over time,” “Same individual over time,” “Same organism as,” “Same individual,” “Same specimen - different day.”
As strongly as I agree with you, I don’t look forward to the fallout from the project owners whose projects would break.
A couple days ago, I uploaded a caterpillar observation and added the “Host Plant” observation field. The next day, someone added my observation to a project and added the “Host Plant ID” observation field. Synonymous fields, but presumably the one I initally used was not the same one that the project uses. My understanding is that this is one of the main reasons that we don’t take any action to consolidate.
I’m sure it won’t be done, at least not any time soon, but it seems it should be done. I have no idea if I’m using the “Nectar Plant” field associated with the pollinator project I joined or not. Probably wouldn’t be simple to program, but I”ll bet it could be done. I”m not going to hold my breath, though. I just plan to bitch about the confusion occasionally and move on.
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes YES!!!
Thank you. I have been more or less putting this as a comment, ‘previously seen at’, ‘next seen at’.
Do you know if this observation field is the most widely used, or if there are others?
I often have a horrible time with 2 observation fields - ‘likely cause of death:’ and ‘likely cause of death?’..
Oh, no! Totally confusing field names!
This topic was automatically closed 60 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.