Biodiversity of Alabama's Journal

Hi Everyone!

For the past several years I have been promoting the use of iNaturalist, and trying to increase the number of nature observations being submitted from Alabama for the Biodiversity of Alabama project and other iNaturalist projects within the state. The Biodiversity of Alabama project https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/biodiversity-of-alabama has taken off since it launched, and now includes >142,500 observations from >4,200 iNaturalist users.

Building on this success, one of my goals this year is to have Alabama start competing in iNaturalist’s City Nature Challenge (CNC) http://citynaturechallenge.org, an annual event where cities around the world compete to see who can make the most nature observations, find the most species, and engage the most people during the event. The CNC began in 2016 with just two cities (Los Angles & San Francisco), and has grown each year such that more than 150 cities around the globe will be participating in this year’s challenge. This year I am organizing the 2019 Birmingham Metro Area iNaturalist Project which will be the first project from Alabama to compete in a City Nature Challenge https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/city-nature-challenge-2019-birmingham-metro-area. This CNC project will include all iNaturalist observations made between April 26 - 29, 2019 from Bibb, Blount, Calhoun, Coosa, Culman, Etowah, Jefferson, Shelby, St. Clair, Talladega, Tuscaloosa, and Walker Counties. If successful, I’m hopeful in the future we can encourage other Alabama cites (e.g., Huntsville, Mobile, etc.) to create similar projects for future challenges.

The CNC competition takes place in two parts: first nature observations need to be made between April 26 - 29, and then from April 30 - May 5 there is a period for these observations to be identified by the iNaturalist community as best as possible before the challenge ends, and the final numbers are counted for each competing city project in the event.

Please consider joining the 2019 Birmingham Metro Area iNaturalist Project by clicking on the "Join" button on the top right of the project page https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/city-nature-challenge-2019-birmingham-metro-area. Once you join you will receive future posts from this CNC project including announcements of iNaturalist events (e.g., training sessions, bioblitzes, nature walks, ID parties, etc.) in the area that will be taking place as part of this year's competition.

Finally, please feel free to brainstorm about other ideas to increase awareness and public participation in this CNC project, ask questions, etc. in the comments – and definitely add others to this journal post via tagging them in the comments!

Thanks,

John Friel
Alabama Museum of Natural History

https://www.ua.edu/events/event/124678

The Alabama Museum of Natural History and the Univeristy of Alabama Press invites you to join us for a reception and book signing event for the release of Lizards and Snakes of Alabama. This long-awaited publication by Craig Guyer, Mark Bailey, and Robert Mount is the latest edition to the Gosse Nature Series.

Lizards and Snakes of Alabama is the most comprehensive taxonomy gathered since Robert H. Mount’s seminal 1975 volume on the reptiles and amphibians of Alabama. This richly illustrated guide provides an up-to-date summary of the taxonomy and life history of lizards and snakes native to, or introduced to, the state.

Alabama possesses one of the most species-rich biotas in north temperate areas and this richness is reflected in some groups of lizards, such as skinks, and especially in snakes. The authors examine all known species within the state and describe important regional variations in each species, including changes in species across the many habitats that comprise the state. Significant field studies, especially of Alabama’s threatened and endangered species, have been performed and are used to inform discussion of each account.

The life-history entry for each species is comprised of scientific and common names, full-color photographs, a morphological description, discussion of habits and life cycle, and a distribution map depicting the species range throughout the state, as well as notes on conservation and management practices. The illustrated taxonomic keys provided for families, genera, species, and subspecies are of particular value to herpetologists.

This extensive guide will serve as a single resource for understanding the rich natural history of Alabama by shedding light on an important component of that biodiversity. Accessible to all, this volume is valuable to both the professional herpetologist and the general reader interested in snakes and lizards.