faerthen's Journal

There is a lot of useful information contained in the discussions under various iNat observations. And some iNatters helpfully post links to publications on their profiles or in their journals. But there isn't a good way to reference all that info. I've been using My Favorites to bookmark where something interesting is posted, but that is clunky beyond measure and doesn't work for anything but obs.

So I'm going to try to post links here in a more organized format so that I can find them again. Hopefully this works better! I also have various Projects that capture obs to help me figure out some mysterious phenomena. They are hard to find in the pile of other Projects I'm involved in, so I've posted links to them here.

If this exercise proves useful to someone else, so much the better! Here's a forum post about how to find other pages that are buried in iNat.

PUZZLE PROJECTS

• Mystery Red Stuff
• Bog Iron
• Winter Red-Pigmented Desert Plants
• Green Flowers
• Freshwater Invertebrate Eggs (discussion here)

ANIMALS

• Bobcat (Lynx rufus)
• American Keeled Slug (Anadenulus cockerelli)
• Prairie Dogs
• Rattlesnakes

PLANTS

See also the Sagehen Basin Comprehensive Master Plant List (including notes on various taxa), and this supporting document.

Anacardiaceae

• Rhus aromatica vs trilobata (and here)

Apiaceae

• Lomatium multifidum & dissectum (and here).

Asteraceae

• Antennaria argentea vs rosea (also see here and here).
• Cirsium mojavense & virginense (and here).
• Cirsium scariosum & tioganum
• Grindelia sp.
• Packera indecora vs pauciflora (and here).
• Ratibida columnifera vs tagetes

Boraginaceae

• Oreocarya
• Phacelia corrugata/crenulata/howelliana

Droseraceae

• Drosera hybrids

Ericaceae

• Pyrola dentata

Fabaceae

• Trifolium beckwithii, fragiferum, longipes (and here), ...

Gentianaceae

• Frasera albomarginata vs paniculata (and here, and here)
• Gentianopsis simplex vs holopetala (and here)

Hydrophyllaceae

Lamiaceae

• Mentha arvensis vs canadensis
• Monardella odoratissima vs ovata, and here

Lentibulariaceae

• Utricularia

Loasaceae

• Mentzelia longiloba

Orchidaceae

• Spiranthes stellata (and here)

Polemoniaceae

• Phlox austromontana & diffusa

Polygonaceae

• Eriogonum deflexum vs hookeri
• Rumex

Ranunculaceae

• Anemone

Rubiaceae

• Galium

Saxifragaceae

• Miterworts (Pectiantia vs. Brewerimitella

OTHER

• Watermelon Snow
• How to Photograph Crayfish for ID
• Some good iNat queries

Yay--sort of a milestone!

I'll keep posting obs from the basin to help other iNaturalists with their Sagehen basin IDs.

Sagehen needs help documenting it's species lists.

Plants, insects, mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians...these lists were assembled beginning in the 1950's and unfortunately, there's no way to determine where exactly those sightings were. In some cases, species were probably included because they were expected to be here, not because they were actually seen here.

With a great tool like iNaturalist available now, we can harness many, many more eyes than we ever could before. We'd like to begin documenting our old lists to see what's really living in the basin and where, exactly, it is.

This will create a magnificent record to help us look at change in the future. Are animal and plant communities changing members? Shifting location? Expanding? Contracting?

Whether you have a smart phone, or just a digital camera and access to a computer, you can be a big part of helping us make that happen, so get involved!