Mastwatching via iNaturalist

[Cam Webb]

Hi all!

Here’s an idea: maybe we can use iNaturalist observations for monitoring
masting? iNaturalist allows any user to annotate any observation of a
plant with its phenological state. Once added, these annotations can be
searched for by adding `&term_id=12` to the query string. For example:

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?taxon_id=68691&term_id=12&term_value_id=13,14

...returns all Dipterocarpaceae that have been annotated as either
flowering or fruiting. Using date filters, these can be viewed by time
slice. And either by downloading observations as CSV, or by using the
API (https://api.inaturalist.org/), the data can be analyzed externally.
Currently there are 1,004 observations of Dipterocarpaceae, only a few
of which have been annotated with phenology.

I started an iNaturalist project that automatically displays
observations of i) taxa that are masting indicators, ii) in Southeast
Asian countries, and iii) that have been annotated for phenology. There
will probably only ever be a few observations of these taxa in
iNaturalist, but if we annotate them for phenology when they are
flowering or fruiting, as a group they may be a useful guide. The
project is here:

https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/mastwatch

Anyone can participate by searching iNat observations for the included
taxa and adding an annotation (bud, flower or fruit, but NOT 'no
evidence'). It’s fun to do!

Cam