April EcoQuest - Pasque Flowers and City Nature Challenge

Spring is here and flowers are finally beginning to emerge! Our April EcoQuest is a two-parter – a challenge to find the first pasque flowers of spring and an invitation to participate in the upcoming City Nature Challenge.

Pasque flowers, Pulsatilla nuttalliana, are one of the first flowers to emerge in the foothills. The common name “pasque flower” is derived from the Hebrew word for Passover, "pasakh.” Pasqua (Spanish) and pasque (French) also translate to Easter – and as this name suggests, these flowers begin to open near the Easter holiday. They are easily identifiable by their large, purple flowers filled with many stamens, and softly hairy, narrowly dissected leaves. How many pasque flowers can you find?

The City Nature Challenge will take place throughout the metro area April 30–May 3. This is an international effort to find and document as many organisms as possible in metro areas around the globe. Any living organism is fair game for observation – plants, animals, birds, insects, fish – they all contribute to the City Nature Challenge! Although the challenge is usually promoted as a competition among cities, this year it is a collaborative event intended to embrace the healing power of nature.

We encourage everyone to get outside and make as many observations as possible during the event. Please keep in mind that these observations must still be identifiable, and plants without flowers are difficult, if not impossible, to determine to species. Also keep in mind that cultivated plants – houseplants, garden plants, or anything else that is not wild – are not part of this challenge.

Last year, 7,130 observations were made in the Denver metro area during the City Nature Challenge, but only 56% of those were also identified by a second user to make the observations research grade. Therefore, don’t forget to also participate in identifying a few observations so that they become research grade as well!

It’s easy to participate – your iNaturalist observations will automatically be added to the City Nature Challenge 2021 Denver-Boulder metro project if they are made during the challenge event and occur in the greater metro area. Additionally, all plant and fungal observations will automatically be added to the Denver EcoFlora Project. Last year, 431 different species of plants were observed during the challenge. We can’t wait to see what you discover this year!

Pulsatilla nuttalliana:

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?

1. Download the iNaturalist app or register online at iNaturalist.org
2. 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.
3. 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."
4. Post your findings on iNaturalist via the app
5. Your observations will automatically be added to the Denver EcoFlora Project
6. 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.

Posted on April 6, 2021 12:27 AM by jackerfield