The process of discovery is very simple. An unwearied and
systematic application of known laws to nature, causes the unknown to reveal
themselves.
Henry David Thoreau in A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers.
On September 22nd, dozens of experts
and citizen scientists teamed up to survey the biodiversity at Minute Man
National Historical Park in a fall BioBlitz – a brief event to document as many
species as possible.
Peter Alden points out characteristics to identify local plants
Teams spread out around the park, with
participants flipping over fungi, inspecting leaves, and listening for the
birds. A young high-school volunteer
introduced iNaturalist,
an app that can be used to photograph and help identify species. In many cases, the iNaturalist app was able
to correctly identify wildflower species. By the end of the day, over 500
species had been tallied.
What is the name of this yellow wildflower?
A naturalist
takes a photo with an iPhone using the iNaturalist app.
The goldenrod species is correctly identified by iNaturalist!
A highlight of the event was a short talk presented
by the famous biologist Professor E. O. Wilson.
E.O. Wilson
talks at lunch
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