Whenever I hit a bottleneck in adding new species to my list, my records inevitably drop. But these days, all I want to do is expand my species database—everything from terrestrial life to marine creatures.
Four years ago, during the pandemic lockdowns, I blindly uploaded massive amounts of urban weeds from my local neighborhood. It created a spammy feel and gave me a terrible reputation within the iNaturalist community in my country, turning me into a controversial figure. I feel a deep sense of shame and guilt for my past immaturity. To make up for it, I’ve started exploring species across different taxa, habitats, and observation dimensions, including microscopy.
Unlike a few years ago when I was obsessed with the sheer number of observations, I now focus more on species richness. I’ve gradually realized that quantity no longer matters, so I’ve stopped trying to boost my record count and shifted my focus to adding new species. As a result, my annual record growth in the Chinese community has dropped from first place in 2024 to seventh place so far this year.
Currently, I’m expanding my scope from urban parks and suburban mountains to intertidal zones and mangroves. My goal is to lower my observation repetition rate by discovering new species. I know this transition into marine exploration will likely take years. (I did have a fleeting thought about diving to photograph marine fish, but it was really just a passing idea.)
Review and Analysis：
Species density = species count /observation count
Repeat rate ≈ 1 − species density
(represents proportion of repeated observations)
Obeservations in 2022：
Species density ≈ 1210/9044 ≈ 0.1338
Repeat rate ≈ 1 − 0.1338 ≈ 0.8662（86.62％）
Obervations in 2023：
Species density ≈ 1817/7397 ≈ 0.2456
Repeat rate ≈ 1 − 0.2456 ≈ 0.7544（75.44％）
Observations in 2024：
Species density ≈ 2888/12055 ≈ 0.2396
Repeat rate ≈ 1 − 0.2396 ≈ 0.7604（76.04％）
Observations in 2025：
Species density ≈ 3263/11960 ≈ 0.2728
Repeat rate ≈ 1 − 0.2728 ≈ 0.7272（72.72％）
Obeservations in 2026（In just the past six months, this year is on track to achieve the highest species density and the lowest observation repetition rate.）：
Species density ≈ 2131/12055 ≈ 0.4496
Repeat rate ≈ 1 − 0.4496 ≈ 0.5504（55.04％）
Bilingual Insight：
2022 → 2025: gradual increase in species density (improving sampling efficiency)
2026: structural jump due to expansion into new ecosystems and habitats
Key conclusion：
In just the past half year, 2026 has shown a significantly higher species density than all previous years on record, while the repeat rate has dropped to its lowest level (meaning more species are captured with fewer observations). This indicates that the sampling strategy has shifted from “repetitive urban observations” toward “cross-ecosystem acquisition of new species.” If this trend continues, it could substantially increase overall species richness and further reduce the overall repetition rate of observations.
Final thoughts：
It can only be said that the meritocratic mindset shaped by exam-oriented education is reshaping my cognitive structure, to the extent that it even pushes me to quantify my interests and pay attention to data across different time periods. However, I consider this to be a positive development. Although I do not intend to glorify the data-analysis habits brought about by exam-oriented thinking, they do indeed help indicate which developmental direction may be more suitable for me.
