There are several recommended sources to learn more. Some are online and some are not. Instead of trying to reproduce the list of online resources here, below is a link to a living Google document that attempts to get as many resources into one place as possible:
Consider joining the iNaturalist community in documenting the biodiversity of Ontario by submitting observations on July 1st. A project has been created called “Canada 154 Bioblitz - Ontario” that will collect all observations from the province on Canada Day. So, by contributing sightings to the Otty Lake project on the holiday, you automatically will be adding to the province wide bioblitz. Last year they logged over 26,300 observations more than 4300 species!
Hace pocos días fotografié unas orugas de Eunica monima en los árboles de Bursera simaruba, parecen estar en segundo o tercer estadío (aunque nunca les atino a los estadíos pero bueno)...
Eso quiere decir que se están reproduciendo. Eso lo tengo en esta observación abajo de esta nota.
Pero últimamente, ya no he visto casi nada de mariposas, pero que supongo que tienen que volver a salir ya cuando las orugas terminen la metamorfosis. Este fin de semana las iré a checar otra vez, a ver cómo van, si han crecido y más que nada si han sobrevivido la mayoría. Por favor, si ven esta nota comenten algo...
elpatitojuan
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Milkweeds (Asclepias sp.) are one of the most common, showy flowers now blooming in the greater metro area. Milkweeds are easily identifiable – they have sepals and petals, but they also have an elaborate corona, usually comprised of a “horn” and “hood.” Milkweeds also have opposite leaves and a milky sap. There are 10 species of Asclepias found in the greater metro area, but Asclepias speciosa (showy milkweed) is our most common species.
Milkweeds are the sole food source for monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) caterpillars. Although milkweeds are toxic to most insects, monarch caterpillars can eat the leaves and store the toxins in their bodies, in turn making them toxic as well. Once these caterpillars have developed into butterflies, they then drink the nectar from the milkweed flowers for food. And in drinking this nectar, the butterfly’s foot sometimes slips into a structure of the corona called the stigmatic slit, within which lies a ball of sticky pollen called pollinia. This pollinia then becomes attached to the butterfly, traveling with it as it moves on to the next flower, where it is again deposited into another stigmatic slit, thus completing the act of pollination. And pollination ensures that the milkweed will produce fruit and seeds for the next generation. It’s a win-win for milkweed and monarchs!
Monarch butterflies migrate an astounding 6,000 miles each year, roundtrip from Mexico to Canada, through successive generations (it will take 3-4 generations before they reach Canada from Mexico). And as they migrate, monarchs lay eggs on milkweeds before dying. Migrating monarchs are divided into two populations – with the eastern one east of the Rocky Mountains and the western one west of the Rocky Mountains. In Colorado, our monarchs are part of the eastern population. Both populations have experienced recent severe declines in numbers – the eastern population has dropped by more than 80% in the past two years, and the western by 99.9% since 1980, bringing it near the brink of extinction.
One reason for the decline in monarchs is the loss of milkweeds across its range –loss of habitat and herbicide application have all led to a decrease in milkweed numbers. However, you can help the monarchs by planting a milkweed or two in your own garden!
Help Denver Botanic Gardens document monarchs and milkweed in the greater metro area by photographing as many plants and caterpillars (or even monarch butterflies!) as possible in the month of July. Post your findings to iNaturalist so they will automatically be added to the Denver EcoFlora Project and the July EcoQuest project.
Asclepias speciosa:
WHAT IS AN ECOQUEST?
EcoQuests, part of the Denver EcoFlora project, challenge citizens to become citizen scientists and observe, study, and conserve the native plants of the City via iNaturalist, an easy-to-use mobile app.
HOW DO I GET STARTED?
Download the iNaturalist app or register online at iNaturalist.org
Take photos of the plants in bloom that you find on your daily neighborhood walk. It is ok if they are weeds! But avoid taking photos of cultivated plants in gardens or in your home.
If you are concerned about revealing the location of sensitive organisms or observations at your own house, you can hide the exact location from the public by changing the "geoprivacy" of the observation to "obscured."
Post your findings on iNaturalist via the app
Your observations will automatically be added to the Denver EcoFlora Project
You can add an identification to your photo when you post your findings on iNaturalist, or leave it blank for others to identify.
WHAT IS THE GOAL?
The EcoFlora project is designed to meaningfully connect citizens with biodiversity, and to assemble novel observations and data on the metro area’s flora to better inform policy decisions and conservation strategies.
Hello everyone,
Welcome to the pilot edition of "Eyes on iNaturalist" in PANP!
I'll start by introducing myself. I'm Ffion, and I work in Resource Conservation (aka Res Con) as a Resource Management Officer. I'm mostly responsible for vegetation monitoring and restoration work, although I help out with other wildlife and aquatic work, as well as visitor safety and human wildlife conflict, as needed. I particularly love working in the park's grasslands and finding new grass species (it's a weird hobby, I know...).
I'm really keen for everyone (staff and visitors alike) to have the opportunity to learn about, experience, and appreciate the park. I've been an avid iNaturalist user for a few years, and I think it's the perfect tool for experienced naturalists, complete beginners, and everyone else in between. You might notice details you never have before, hone your photography skills, learn some new species and meet other staff with common interests.
Along the way, you will definitely contribute to our knowledge of biodiversity in the park, and you might even detect a new species, a species at risk, or an invasive species that we need to control.
If you would like to meet your fellow iNatters working in PANP, please introduce yourself in the comments below (keeping in mind this is a public forum).
See you soon!
Ffion
You all probably know about Black Swallow-Wort (BSW) but I didn't until this year. I have been told by some that it is invasive target #1 in Massachusetts, because it kills butterflies wherever it goes, whereas most other invasive species just crowd the native flora out and reduce their habitat. I have been pulling BSW from people's privets, and from the tree-lines in Robbins Farm Park and Wellington Park, and passing out flyers, since I can't do all that much myself.
Please help me spread the word! I have copied the text of the flyer below, but feel free to use your own words. Our town loves butterflies, evidenced by all of the milkweed patches in people's gardens, and I'm sure people will be eager to help if they know how bad BSW is for the monarchs.
The project admins, @ecrow and I, are working on organizing projects in Hill's Hill (BSW and garlic mustard) and Wellington Park (just BSW for now -- the parks dept/evironmental planner have big plans starting in July) so stay tuned for updates and opportunities to get involved in the next few weeks. We are also recruiting for other admins, so send me a message if you want in.
BSW Flyer: (partially plagiarized from a flyer found in Newton MA)
Poison Butterfly Trap
BLACK SWALLOW-WORT
{pictures of the flowers, roots, and seed pods}
Dangerous to birds, butterflies and native plants.
Armed with seed pods that look like chili peppers, shiny green leaves in pairs, purple star-shaped flowers, and grappling spaghetti-like roots, this invasive (non-native) vine threatens monarch butterflies by tricking them into laying their eggs on this poisonous plant instead of milkweed. It kills birds, insects and other wildlife through its toxins and its ability to climb over entire forest glades, covering everything else.
Pulling this vine wherever you find it is the best way to help the local butterflies, and keep it from spreading to our parks and woodlands. The seeds spread far on the wind, and are viable in the soil for years, so the pods should be disposed of in the garbage, not yard waste or compost. Some people get contact dermatitis from the sap, so please pull with gloves. Try to dig the roots, or it will be back. It can be defeated with repeated pulling as well, if you don’t let it grow too many leaves.
Yesterday plant ecologists Cathy Keddy and Eleanor Thomson, and field naturalists Greg Lutick and Jakob Mueller visited a 4.5 acre fen southwest of the Crazy Horse Trail to help document the plant community. At least four Regionally Significant plants were confirmed, one - Eriophorum tenellum - is Regionally Rare. Thank you to the team for helping to document the biodiversity of the Carp Hills.
We're excited to finally kick-off our iNaturalist Biodiversity Inventory Project.
Please join our project and add to our inventory next time you are at the Outdoor Lab.
Hey UBMS group of 2021! You'll be making and uploading observations directly to this project, but you don't have to be on this page to do so (just click the project name from the "Add to Project" section of the observation).
This is the first in a series of posts interviewing members of the iNaturalist community who are also Monthly Supporters. iNaturalist Monthly Supporters give automatic, recurring charitable donations and can be recognized on their profile pages, if they choose to from their account settings. Monthly Supporters are a critical part of our community and help ensure that iNaturalist is freely available to people all over the world. You can become a Monthly Supporter by giving your first recurring donation online. Thank you!
For the rest of 2021, we'll profile several different Monthly Supporters to highlight members of the community and why they support iNaturalist.
Navin Sasikumar is a software engineer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the United States and an amateur urban naturalist in his spare time. Although he started with birds and birding, his interests now include all urban nature in Philadelphia. In keeping with that urban biodiversity theme, he is also a volunteer organizer for Philadelphia’s participation in the City Nature Challenge (see what they found this year—Navin made over 1000 observations during the 4 days). He also enjoys cultivating wildlife-friendly gardens in city spaces.
How did you first get into iNaturalist?
I was just starting to get interested in things other than birds and keeping records of what I saw. eBird was great to keep track of my bird sightings and I used Odonata Central for dragonflies and eButterfly for butterflies, but beyond that I had an unwieldy spreadsheet of various other organisms. That’s when a friend mentioned iNaturalist to me. I think it might have been around the time the computer vision element was launched. I tried it out and was immediately hooked. I not only had a way to keep track of all my sightings, but I could easily narrow down organisms I knew nothing about through computer vision, and I had an expert community to further help where the AI wasn’t quite as successful. I could see what else people were seeing around me and that helped me learn more about the biodiversity around me.
What made you want to donate monthly, in addition to everything else you do with iNaturalist?
iNaturalist has given me so much. A community, knowledge, and countless hours of fun. And as a software engineer, I am well aware of the costs involved in running something like iNaturalist. And I am constantly amazed at how much the small team at iNat is able to accomplish. I want to see iNat continue forever, so that motivated me to contribute via monthly donations.
What keeps you motivated?
There’s a common misconception that there is no nature in cities, so I initially set out to see if I could find 1000 species in the city of Philadelphia. Once I reached that, I set myself new cumulative species goals each year. Sort of similar to a combination of a birder’s year and life lists. The goal was 1000 species total in the city by the end of 2019, 1200 by the end of 2020, and now I hope to get 1400 by the end of 2021. All in the city of Philadelphia. And there’s just so many species I have yet to see, it’s always exciting. I can go out to a park I’ve visited hundreds of times and still find new species. It’s not hard to be motivated, it’s hard to stop iNatting.
What’s something that you’d like more members of the iNaturalist community to know or do?
I would suggest donating to iNaturalist if you have the means to and don’t donate already. The cost of running servers and storage, I would assume, is huge and even more, we also want to support the incredible staff at iNaturalist. I would also suggest working with local organizations (not only those in the nature space) to see if there are ways to increase participant diversity on iNaturalist to something that is more representative of your community at-large. The more diversity of people we have using iNaturalist, the more biodiversity we can capture on iNat.
Thank you to @navin_sasikumar and all of the Monthly Supporters!
Become a Monthly Supporter
Give once, quarterly, or annually
Other ways to give
iNaturalist is fortunate to have so many deeply dedicated and enthusiastic community members. We’re grateful to everyone who is generous with their time, expertise, and other gifts.
iNaturalist is a joint initiative of the California Academy of Sciences and the National Geographic Society. All donations will be received by the California Academy of Sciences, a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt not-for-profit organization based in the United States of America (Tax ID: 94-1156258). Gifts can be made online in more than 30 different currencies via bank account, credit/debit card, or PayPal.
Good Morning Pollinator Week Bioblitz Participants!
One important request for uploading observations: please make sure to upload multiple photos of the same individual pollinator as a single observations.
The problem with uploading multiple photos of the same individual (by dragging and dropping files) is that iNaturalist will create multiple observations, which inflates the number of observations. As researchers, we'd love to get some idea about relative abundances of our pollinators. So, if you take 10 photos of the same pollinator, that's great for identification purposes! But please make sure those photos are posted in a single observation -- otherwise it looks like there are 10 individuals, not 1.
I recommend uploading a single photo to make the observation, and then edit the observation to upload extra photos of the same individual. There's a little +image icon at the bottom of the primary photo and you can add multiple photos at a time this way for the same individual. If anyone knows an easier way to add multiple photos of a single individual, please feel free to comment!
If you've accidentally created multiple observations by uploading multiple photos of an individual pollinator, we'd greatly appreciate your help in curating data by removing duplicate photos and moving them into a single observation. I know that's a hassle, but it helps improve the quality of data tremendously!
Thanks so much for participating!
Data on Genus Phyrdenus (tribe Cryptorhynchini, subtribe Cryptorhynchina)
Wikipedia states that there are 23 named species of Phyrdenus worldwide.
iNaturalist has 15 Observations for only 2 of those species worldwide, with 12 Observations of a single species occurring in North America (namely the US).
P. divergens
A dataset of 2 North American species is found in the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) database - all 13 Observations & Museum-preserved specimens are from the US:
P. divergens
P. muriceus
The BugGuide platform (which only covers the US and Canada), has 28 Observations of a single species - all in the US:
P. divergens
New observation field!
unusual leave colouring (variegation, etc.)
In the early 1880s, a group of student naturalists compiled a list of 97 species found on Mount Desert Island during the summer months. In the case of warblers and other migratory songbirds, they were documenting breeding or nesting birds.
As part of the Landscape of Change project, we are asking people to help us re-visit these historic bird records to help answer the question, Are these same species breeding in the same locations 140 years later?
We've compiled a list of suggested routes in Acadia National Park and other conservation lands, and what birds to look (and listen) for in each location, found at this link:
I seem to have picked a particularly bad year to try this. I've missed several species that are well known to be plentiful at certain times and locations, having to scramble to find alternate places for them. Everyone is commenting how few butterflies seem to be around this year. I just drove across the state and back today and struck out on all four target species. The only new one for the year that I got today was European Skipper, an invasive that is widely common, just now starting to fly. I was at the summit of Mount Greylock, the highest point in Massachusetts, and struck out on the high-altitude specialists there. I suspect they will be there on a second try, I'm just slightly early and the weather was cooler than expected.
My count is now at 60 species. Mid-June is always slow here, and hopefully things will pick up soon. Of course, the utility company doing transmission line work at one of my favorite spots isn't helping...
On the plus side, I'm getting out in the field more this year than I usually do, and seeing a lot of interesting things besides butterflies too. Today I had a bear cross the road in front of me (but too quickly for a photo). Bee-mimic robber flies yesterday. A family of Ruffed Grouse last week.
maractwin
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thebluejaynerd
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7 observaciones
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Make arachnid observations from wherever you are over the weekend of their annual meeting, from Friday June 25 to Sunday June 27, 2021. There will be fun prizes for the most observations, the most identifications, and more! The project is for folks who want to participate in finding arachnids and having arachnologists looking at the ID's. So a chance to put a little extra effort into photographing your local spiders and see what some experts think.
project link: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/aas-2021-virtual-bioblitz-364cdd97-db65-4b71-95b7-9c05543bfb90
More about the annual meeting here...
https://www.americanarachnology.org/aas-meetings/aas-meeting-2021/ #Arachnids21
here's some notes on what helps to get a spider identified from tips and tricks...
Photograph the shape of the spider’s web and take note of its habitat. Use your macro lens to obtain close-ups of the top side and underside of the spider, as well as a shot of the face head-on to see the position of the eyes. Photographing the eye arrangement and dorsal pattern can help you identify the spider to family or genus.
How They Got The Shot
Thomas Barbin(https://inaturalist.ca/people/thomasbarbin)
“I like to encourage active spiders (especially jumping spiders) onto a stick, leaf or rock to make photographing them easier. I hold the object with the spider in my left hand while resting the end of my lens on the palm/wrist area of my left hand. This allows everything to move as one, making it easier to focus on the spider. As I track and photograph the spider,I move the object with my fingers to get all the key angles for ID. Once I have what I need for an ID, I like to get creative with different angles. By facing different directions, I can choose what I want the background to be (blue sky, green leaves, dark background, etc.). Jumping spiders can be especially tricky and like to jump. When they jump, they leave a dragline attached to the object they jumped from and repel down. Try to grab their dragline before they hit the ground and lift them back up to your stick/leaf/rock!”
An umbrella project on iNaturalist is a project that encompasses at least one other standard project (in our case, we cull all observations from The projects: Fungi beyond NYC - New York Mycological Society and Fungi of NYC - New York Mycological Society. The main purpose of umbrella projects is described by iNaturalist:
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If you want to collate, compare, or promote a set of existing projects, then an Umbrella project is what you should use. For example, the 2018 City Nature Challenge, which collated over 60 projects, made for a great landing page where anyone could compare and contrast each city’s observations. Both Collection and Traditional projects can be used in an Umbrella project, and up to 500 projects can be collated by an Umbrella project.
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The specific purpose of this project is to facilitate data analysis and to choose images for social media.
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, there was no group outing to Berry Springs Park and Preserve this month. However, two people checked on the amphibians.
Six amphibian species were observed in the middle slough springhead, the slough by the playground, the main ponds, the ditch in the pecan orchard, and somewhere to the north and east of the main restrooms: Rio Grande Leopard Frog (CI = 1), Blanchard's Cricket Frog (CI = 2), Gulf Coast Toad (CI = 2), Western Narrow-mouthed Toad (CI = 2), Green Tree Frog (CI = 2), and American Bullfrog (CI = 0). Photos and/or recordings were obtained for all species except the Gulf Coast Toad and American Bullfrog. We watched as a Green Tree Frog that had been calling from a 30-foot high pecan branch leaped out into thin air and landed safely in the grass at our feet - he was on his way to join the fun in the ditch. Amazing !
The puddle at the middle slough springhead about the same size as last month (no flow to the main ponds), and the water level was average in the slough by the playground and main ponds. According to the USGS gauge station at Berry Creek at Airport Rd near Georgetown, TX (https://waterdata.usgs.gov/tx/nwis/uv/?site_no=08105095&PARAmeter_cd=00045), there had been 2.71 inches of rain the night before our monitoring.
A cute little armadillo was seen near the park entrance about half an hour before sunset. The monitoring period was 20:30 - 21:30.
Participants were Kathy and Christie.
Environmental conditions at the middle slough springhead at sunset:
Air temperature = 76.1 deg F
Water temperature = 68.4 deg F
Sky = no/few clouds
Water level = below average at springhead, average at main ponds
Relative humidity = 69 %
k_mccormack
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5 observaciones
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Online opleidingen bijen herkennen |
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· herkenning alle Belgische en
· herkenning alle Belgische en Nederlandse soorten
· herkenning algemene Belgische en Nederlandse soorten
· herkenning algemene Belgische en Nederlandse soorten
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© Photographer: William Wise | Stumps of Cypress trees remain throughout the Okefenokee Swamp from extensive logging operations and clearcuts from the Hebard Logging Company in the 1920s. Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, Georgia. Paddling north on the Suwannee River Middle Fork red trail.
As beautiful as the Okefenokee Swamp is today, I can only imagine the grandeur of the pristine beauty prior to the logging of the early 1900’s. It has been nearly 100 years since the logging took place, but the scars of wide scale timber removal remain to this day. Many of the cypress have been growing back since the saws were silenced, but I do not think we see what the early explorers and swampers saw in the 1800’s.
In his book Mammals of the Okefinokee Swamp published in 1927, naturalist Francis Harper wrote, “This was doubtless one of the most magnificent stands of cypress in the country, many of the trees towering to a height of about 100 feet, and having a diameter of more than a yard above the swollen base.”
If the post-exploitation Okefenokee can hold such magnificence today, one can only imagine what it would have been to step foot in the towering cypress cathedrals of yesterday. But as long as we continue to preserve this national treasure, future generations won’t have to use their imagination. Cypress grow slowly, but they do grow! One day.
Yesterday, our two week BioBlitz came to a close. Here are some of our stats
12 observers
*101 Identifiers (they don't need to be in the project but are others who might be connected to our members in the project)
From a contributor perspective, @owensscience had the most observations (169) and most species observed (88). We had observations from the United States, Italy, France, India, and Mauritius.
Save the Date
We're going to kick off another two week Bioblitz on Friday, July 16 (Word Snake Day). I would love someone to volunteer to serve as a co-administrator so you can see the BioBlitz back end and share the journey as well.
Data on Genus Acalles (tribe Cryptorhynchini, subtribe Tylodina)
Wikipedia states that there are 576 named species of Acalles worldwide, and that it is a North America genus.
iNaturalist has 45 Observations for only 5 of those species worldwide, with 4 or 5 Observations of a single species occurring in North America (namely the US). I have found made 3 of those Observations at a site in Pennsylvania, attracted to the wall at night by outside lights. A 4th Observation also occurs in Pennsylvania, and the 5th Observation is of an undetermined species, tentatively ID'd as Acalles. The other four iNat species were all observed in Europe.
A. carinatus
A dataset of 24 North American species is found in the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) database - all 49 Observations & Museum-preserved specimens are from the US:
A. carinatus
A. sulcicollis
A. indigens
A. minimus
A. clavatus
A. sablensis
A. crassulus
A. sylvosus
A. perosus
A. subhispidus
A. exhumatus
A. aranus
A. nobilis
A. granosus
A. ventrosus
A. pectoralis
A. hubbardi
A. nuchalis
A. longulus
A. turbidus
A. basalis
A. clathratus
A. sordidus
A. indistincta
The BugGuide platform (which only covers the US and Canada), has 10 Observations of the following 6 species in total - all in the US:
A. sulcicollis
A. indigens
A. minutissimus
A. carinatus
A. costifer
A. clavatus
I would like to turn this into a collection project, but I would appreciate some help from mycologists in developing the taxon list. Here's what I have so far:
6-23-21
Bird feeder visitors: Canyon Towhee, House Sparrow (F), House Finches (F).
A brown mouse ran across the yard and I cornered it under the umbrella base by the patio table. I got a good look at it. Long tail and it hops/jumps on all for legs. I told it never to come in my house. When I walked away it jumped under the Virginia Creeper. It probably has a burrow there. They like to eat seed. The bird feeders are attracting them? Just stay out of my house.
Cast your votes and be counted! You can 'fav' any observation that you like to vote for the Vermont Atlas of Life iNaturalist photo-observation of the month. Located to the right of the photographs and just below the location map is a star symbol. Click on this star and you've fav'ed an observation. At the end of each month, we'll see which photo-observation has the most favs and crown them the monthly winner. Check out awesome observations and click the star for those that shine for you. Vote early and often!
Check out who is in the lead and see a list of all of this month's photo-observations.
The New York Mycological Society is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization dedicated to raising public awareness of mushrooms in science, cuisine, and more. http://newyorkmyc.org/
The New York Mycological Society is a mushroom club for all New Yorkers. It contains observations of fungi of New York's five boroughs as well as surrounding counties. The NYMS is a member, in good standing, of the North American Mycological Association (NAMA).
Interested? Find out more by visiting our website's about page: https://newyorkmyc.org/about/
Today saw the re-launch meeting (online) of the North Merseyside Local Sites Partnership.
Responsible for the designation and advocacy of Local Wildlife and Geological Sites in Sefton, Liverpool, Knowsley and St Helens the relaunched partnership aims to revitalise engagement around these special places for wildlife while also reviewing the guidelines for selection and whether existing sites still qualify (and are appropriately listed) or if they need removal from the lists. The new partnership will also assess potential new Local Wildlife Sites (LWS) to be adopted.
A critical part of LWS selection is evidencing that a site meets the selection criteria a significant part of which includes the presence of priority species or species assemblage. Here there is plenty of opportunity to engage with the process by sharing your observations of wildlife. Those observations may tell us something we didn't know about a site, help to evidence the continuation of a population at a site or help to identify new locations we are unaware of!
Mchy i wątrobowce nie są ulubionymi roślinami ogrodników. Wiele osób latami usuwa mszaki ze swoich ogrodów. Uważam, że to wielki błąd.
Mszaki to zdumiewające rośliny. Potrafią przetrwać suszę i "odrodzić się" po deszczu jakby nigdy nic. Nie wymagają żadnych zabiegów. Stanowią wspaniały rezerwuar wody, zwiększając jej retencję w środowisku, zwiększając wilgotność i zatrzymując wodę przed ucieczką wgłąb gleby. Co ciekawe, pobór wody przez chwytniki jest znikomy - mchy pobierają wodę przede wszystkim z deszczu i rosy. To sprawia, że praktycznie w każdym ekosystemie są bardzo pożądanym elementem, tym bardziej, że w ostatnich latach doświadczamy zarówno susz, jak i gwałtownych opadów (które nie są w stanie spenetrować wysuszonej ziemi - większość wody spływa zamiast zatrzymać się lokalnie). Usuwanie mchów z trawników to zwyczajna głupota - nie mówiąc już o koszeniu na krótko i późniejszej konieczności intensywnego marnowania wody na tak wygoloną trawę! Tymczasem mając trawnik poprzerastany mchem można ograniczyć zużycie wody i energii. No, ale tego nie uczą w szkole, skąd mają o tym wiedzieć rozmaici zarządcy zieleni i prywatni właściciele ogródków?
W każdym razie mchy po deszczu prezentują się wspaniale i jest to najlepszy moment, by fotografować większość gatunków. Autorzy znakomitej książki "Brophyte ecology" (dodać przypis), która jest dostępna online za darmo, zamieścili tabelę "pojemności wodnej" dla różnych gatunków mchów i wątrobowców. Wygrywają torfowce, które mogą pomieści 1225% wody w stosunku do suchej masy (a więc ponad 12-krotnie więcej). Powszechny w naszych borach sosnowych rokietnik pospolity pomieści dla porównania 5-6 krotność swej wagi, co także jest znakomitym wynikiem (każdy, kto zapadał się po deszczu w głębokich mchach i przemoczył buty, już wie, dlaczego ;) ).
Warto przyjrzeć się bliżej roli mchów i zrozumieć, że ze swoimi zadziwiającymi umiejętnościami są ważną częścią otaczającej nas przyrody.
ESPÈCES ET SITES CIBLÉS
Guifette noire. Suivi d'une sélection de sites. L'espèce est présente dans la plupart des régions administratives du centre et de l'ouest du Qc. Dans bien des cas, il s'agit de préciser la localisation de la colonie et de signaler de meilleurs indices de nidification que ce que l'on a obtenu jusqu'à maintenant. Des oiseaux effectuant des va-et-vient et se dirigeant sensiblement au même endroit est un bon exemple de signalement recherché. La période d'inventaire s'échelonne du 1 juin au 15 août. Participez en suivant le protocole, ses habitats de prédilection y sont décrits.
Grive des bois. Suivi d'une sélection de sites connus et exploration des habitats propices. Les régions touchées sont situées dans le sud du Qc, au centre et l'ouest de la Province. On invite les participants à explorer son aire de nidification pour découvrir de nouveaux sites. Pour chaque site sélectionné ou découvert, il s'agit de détecter 2 fois sa présence en une semaine et plus d'intervalle. La période d'inventaire s'échelonne du 15 mai au 7 août. Participez en suivant le protocole, ses habitats de prédilection y sont décrits.
