iNaturalist Project - Creating a Refuge Database

The Friends have been resuming emphasis on their iNaturalist project that was begun a few years ago. Members are continuing to provide observations of wildlife and plants of the refuges. The goal is to provide a database that may help refuge managers and Friends members as we work to protect our refuges and their living resources. The database includes not only lists of species, but also where and when they were observed, providing information on habitat use, abundance, and seasonal cycles of activity.
 
The screenshot shows the status of the project as of early April. Note that 28 observers have contributed 781 observations of 356 species. Many more observations are needed.
 
All are invited to contribute observations. You can just sign on to www.inaturalist.org  and find instructions there. Once logged on you can look up the ‘Lower Suwannee and Cedar Keys” project under the Community drop-down menu. Better yet download the iNaturalist app on your smartphone. Species recorded photographically on a smartphone should automatically include information on date, time, and geographic coordinates.  You don’t need to be an expert in identifying species; a new feature of the program suggests identifications of species for which reasonably good photos are uploaded.