Proper Use of Place Checklist + Place Project Questions

[jwidness]

@ekimbro

For the checklist, I have added every species that I could find research-grade observations of in the park on iNaturalist

Just to be clear, listing all the RG species in a place is possible without using a Checklist, the Explore page will do that under the species tab. For example, here is the list of species in Jennings State Forest:

@ekimbro

Is it possible for other people to add species to the list, too, or does this happen automatically somehow, or do I need to keep an eye out for new verified observations to add to the list myself?

All of the above – as m_whitson said, other people can add to the checklist, also there is some functionality for auto-updating (but it’s kind of broken and was scheduled to be turned off, not sure what the status with that is), and you can keep checking and adding yourself.

@ekimbro

Does anyone have advice for running a place page well and keeping the taxa updated, and making sure they’re accurate?

Oof, place pages are one of the older parts of iNat and they’re somewhat hidden and buggy (and unlikely to be fixed any time soon). The species list on Explore works great, but doesn’t list species that are unobserved. One possible workaround is to post a date-less, photo-less observation and then turn off Verifiable in the search filters.

That’s still kind of iffy though, since it implies you personally observed that species. But I don’t think it’s that different from voucher records posted to iNat, and that happens fairly regularly.

I think maybe if you explained what you would like to use the species list for (e.g. outreach, satisfying your curiosity, etc.) we could give more tailored advice.

@ekimbro

are people on iNaturalist more likely to notice and contribute to the place if it has an accompanying project, or is a project somehow more useful for people who are curious about the park than just a place?

To be honest, place pages are kind of hidden, but so are projects. For example, the apps let you see “projects nearby”, but the list is only Traditional Projects, not Collection projects, so I don’t think many people find new projects to join this way. If you want people to contribute, I would suggest looking at the section for “Ideas for Project Outreach” on the managing projects page.

In terms of which project type, I would definitely suggest Collection over Traditional. (If you really want your project to show up in nearby projects on the app, you can start as Traditional and immediately convert.)

@ekimbro

is there a risk of that being seen as stepping on toes? I’m not affiliated with the park, I just really like it, so I don’t want to make them mad by organizing an unauthorized Bioblitz. It is a city park

That’s probably something to ask the city, though I would be surprised if they told you not to do it.

@ekimbro

my place’s page insists it has no native organisms at all

Hmmm, I’m not sure what most people would think, but I personally wouldn’t see empty results and assume no native species. I would just assume the establishment means hasn’t been set.

In addition to the response above about setting the establishment means, you should also be able to batch add/update establishment means using the csv upload.