Geoffrey Cox

Joined: May 31, 2018 Last Active: Mar 18, 2024 iNaturalist Australia Monthly Supporter since September 2020

I've always had an interest in the natural world, but I have no background in life sciences. The majority of my observation are from South Australia.

My blog with an iNaturalist/Biodiversity focus.

Instagram

Thank you to all the knowledgeable people that can provide IDs and guidance on iNat for taking the time to share that knowledge.

The Southern Mount Lofty Ranges is a biodiversity hotspot in South Australia with a high diversity of species, and many endemic subspecies separated from similar habitats by hundreds of kilometers. Since the arrival of Europeans this region has undergone drastic changes. 90% of the woodlands have been cleared, modified and fragmented. Ecological communities like the Fleurieu Peninsula swamps have declined by 94% with only 1/10th of the remaining considered in an intact state. The remaining conservation areas are highly fragmented and frequently too small to maintain viable populations of species. 10 Bird species are locally extinct with 60 more in decline, in particular small insectivores and frugivores. 50% of woodland Bird species are facing regional extinction due to lack of vegetation. Fragmented parks surrounded by farmland are under significant threat from invasive species. These isolated parks risk being entirely consumed by bushfires, with recovery significantly hampered by the lack of intact surrounding vegetation. Conservation areas close to population centers are at increased threat from recreational usage. The reduction in vegetation and decline in insectivorous Birds suggest reductions in Insect and invertebrate populations. So while local populations continue to decline due to historic changes in land usage, let's record everything we can, as there's no way to know which species will go regionally extinct in the near future. I recommend focusing on the understudied Insects and other invertebrates, and fragile terrestrial Orchids. Additionally, plant local provenance native Plants in your yard and many species will come to you. I've recorded over 650 species on my suburban block.

Identifying Centres of Plant Biodiversity in South Australia

Paying the extinction debt: woodland birds in the Mount Lofty Ranges, South Australia

What is happening to the woodland birds of the Mount Lofty Ranges

The Value of Fleurieu Swamps

Australian researchers call for help to save our insects

Observations

I have no particular focus area. I'll record any taxon, but my observations tend toward life most frequently encountered, and that which can't scurry, hop, crawl, fly, swim, scamper, slither or glide away before I can take suitable photos.

When uploading observations I try to include multiple photographs and, where necessary, something for scale.

All my observation locations are recorded with a GPS enabled device and manually checked when uploading. Location accuracy is typically set to a conservative 20 metres.

If you add a comment to one of my observations, I will endeavour to reply. (Although it may take a few days).

Licencing

All my observation records and observation photos are licensed CC-BY-NC so that they are available for sharing with the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) and the Atlas of Living Australia (ALA). 

Upon request, individual photos can be changed to CC-BY so that they can be made available for Wikimedia and for other applications.

Records and photos with All Rights Reserved on iNaturalist are not shared with the biodiversity databases. I encourage observers to set their licencing preference to a Creative Commons option. This can be changed in the Content and Display section of your Account Settings.

Identifications

When adding IDs I follow the guidance in the iNat Forum Wiki: Identification Etiquette on iNaturalist.

On my own observations I occasionally provide a coarse ID even if familiar with the species, in order to avoid biasing identifiers, and lower the risk of identifiers 'auto-agreeing'.

I only agree to identifications on my own observations after doing the requisite research, and refrain from 'auto-agreeing'.

I'll often ID already Research Grade observations as part of my learning process and to pick up occasional ID mistakes.

Although I err on the side of caution, from time to time I will no doubt make ID errors. If you find an error, please correct it and add an explanation so I can avoid such an error in the future.

For efficiency I'll typically provide IDs without comment. However if you require further info or wish to question the ID, please do so. It'll encourage me to validate my understanding and inspire me to broaden my knowledge.

All of my IDs can be found on my Identifications Page. This page can be filtered by taxon by adding to the URL the parameter &taxon_id=*****, replacing the * with relevant taxon number.

ID Assistance Needed!

As of January 2024, I have 6,411 observations at Needs ID. Many have clear photos and are relatively common in the region species where ID to Genus or species is relatively easy. Some have reached their ID limit from the photos. See the full list HERE.

Below are a few filtered lists of observations of specific taxa that Need ID.

All Plants Magnoliopsida Liliopsida Fabaceae Orchidaceae Bryophyta Marchantiophyta

All Insects Blattodea Coleoptera Dermaptera Diptera Hemiptera Hymenoptera Formicidae Anthophila Apocrita Lepidoptera Neuroptera Orthoptera Psocodea Trichoptera

Arachnida Mollusca Fungi

Feathers Galls Scats Bones Eggs

My Backyard (All Species)

My iNaturalist Year in Review

2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023

Local Projects of Interest

A project open to all residents of South Australia: South Australian iNaturalists.

A project bringing together all observations inside the Protected Parks of South Australia.

A list of all iNat projects relating to South Australia: iNaturalist Projects List for South Australia.

Backyard Biodiversity

A project to record all the species found in my suburban backyard: Backyard Biodiversity (cobaltducks)

BioBlitz History

An Umbrella Project brining together my City Nature Challenge and Great Southern BioBlitz history.

Equipment

Current:
Canon 90D + EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS
Canon 550D + EF-S 55-250mm IS
Olympus TG-6 + FD-1 Flash Diffuser
Galaxy Note SM-N950F
Saxon RST Stereo Microscope
Techview Trail Camera QC8043
TC WiFi Endoscope 5.5mm
Historic:
Olympus TG-870
Galaxy Note SM-N9005

Other

Heat Map of My Observations
iNat user ID #997336

The Benefits of Special Interests in Autism: https://doi.org/10.53053/UVVZ8029

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