City Nature Challenge 2020: Greater Adelaide's Journal

The City Nature Challenge 2020 is all over and the results are in. Check out the global outcomes on the main Umbrella project HERE and the final results HERE. Although many countries are currently experiencing tough times and many people are under movement restrictions, a record number of people found the time to participate in the challenge.
Greater Adelaide Global Ranking

Out of a total 244 participating cities, Greater Adelaide placed 36th in observations, 41st in total species and 53rd in number of participants. An impressive feat considering our relatively small population and our first time participating.

Australian Cities

Of the four participating Australian cities, Greater Adelaide provided the greatest number of observations at 6,701 and also the most observers at 188. The most species were recorded by Geelong at 1,232.

Australia Wide

During the challenge an Australia wide project was run to allow all those around Australia who were outside the participating city boundaries to contribute their observations. During the challenge observation days a total of 24,084 observation of 4,157 species by 1,361 observers were recorded across Australia with a total 41,158 IDs provided by 697 users.

Greater Adelaide Stats

Observations by Local Government Area

Local Government Area	Observations	Species	Observers	Most Observed Species
Adelaide Hills Council	1,117	321	32	30 x Koala (Phascolarctos cinereus)
Adelaide Plains Council	95	65	1	3 x Vacuaria Carpet Moth (Xanthorhoe vacuaria)
Alexandrina Council	472	183	11	12 x Common Correa (Correa reflexa)
Barossa Council	65	44	4	3 x Eriochilus collinus
City of Adelaide	340	132	16	16 x Australian White Ibis (Threskiornis molucca)
City of Burnside	42	32	9	2 x Magpie (Gymnorhina tibicen)
City of Campbelltown	179	102	15	9 x Magpie (Gymnorhina tibicen)
City of Charles Sturt	170	116	12	4 x Magpie-Lark (Grallina cyanoleuca)
City of Holdfast Bay	134	81	5	4 x Musk Lorikeet (Glossopsitta concinna)
City of Marion	273	158	17	11 x Pacific Black Duck (Anas superciliosa)
City of Mitcham	613	242	29	22 x Magpie (Gymnorhina tibicen)
City of Norwood Payneham & St Peters	60	33	5	5 x Eastern Water Skink (Eulamprus quoyii)
City of Onkaparinga	1,067	411	38	15 x Magpie (Gymnorhina tibicen)
City of Playford	73	55	4	4 x Western Grey Kangaroo (Macropus fuliginosus)
City of Port Adelaide Enfield	393	163	18	9 x Grey Mangrove (Avicennia marina)
City of Prospect	6	6	2	1 x Magpie-Lark (Grallina cyanoleuca)
City of Salisbury	89	43	9	9 x Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)
City of Tea Tree Gully	53	44	8	3 x Lycosidae sp. (Wolf Spiders)
City of Unley	101	69	6	3 x Redback Spider (Latrodectus hasselti)
City of Victor Harbor	86	68	6	3 x Silver Gull (Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae)
City of West Torrens	353	162	17	17 x Magpie-Lark (Grallina cyanoleuca)
District Council of Mount Barker	138	115	10	3 x Magpie (Gymnorhina tibicen)
District Council of Yankalilla	267	159	7	7 x Grass-tree (Xanthorrhoea semiplana)
Light Regional Council	15	13	1	2 x White-banded Grass-Dart (Taractrocera papyria)
Rural City of Murray Bridge	17	14	3	2 x Shingleback Lizard (Tiliqua rugosa)
Town of Gawler	16	13	1	2 x Rainbow Ants (Iridomyrmex sp.)
Town of Walkerville	19	15	3	3 x Australian Wood Duck (Chenonetta jubata)

Most Observed Species across Greater Adelaide

The top 3 species observed in each group were:

Plants

• 49 x Golden Wattle (Acacia pycnantha)
• 42 x Grass-tree (Xanthorrhoea semiplana)
• 40 x Cranberry Heath (Astroloma humifusum)

Birds

• 102 x Magpie (Gymnorhina tibicen)
• 63 x Noisy Miner (Manorina melanocephala)
• 58 x Rainbow Lorikeet (Trichoglossus moluccanus)

Mammals

• 41 x Koala (Phascolarctos cinereus)
• 30 x Western grey Kangaroo
• 5 x Grey-headed Flying-Fox (Pteropus poliocephalus)

Reptiles

• 19 x Pale-flecked Garden Sunskink (Lampropholis guichenoti)
• 13 x Eastern Water Skink (Eulamprus quoyii)
• 8 x Shingleback Lizard (Tiliqua rugosa)

Arachnids

• 18 x Wolf Spider (Lycosidae sp.)
• 14 x Redback Spider (Latrodectus hasselti)
• 5 x Spotted Ground Swift Spider (Nyssus coloripes)

Ray-finned Fish

• 3 x Eastern Mosquitofish (Gambusia holbrooki)
• 2 x Leafy Seadragon (Phycodurus eques)
• 1 x Western Talma (Chelmonops curiosus)

Amphibians

• 7 x Common Eastern Froglet (Crinia signifera)
• 3 x Ewing's Tree Frog (Litoria ewingii)
• 2 x Spotted Grass Frog (Limnodynastes tasmaniensis)

Insects

• Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)
• 44 x Monarch (Danaus plexippus)
• 42 x Common Brown (Heteronympha merope)

Molluscs

• 7 x Garden Snail (Cornu aspersum)
• 5 x Threeband Slugs (Ambigolimax sp.)
• 3 x Small Pointed Snail (Cochlicella barbara)

Fungi

• 9 x Shaggy Mane (Coprinus comatus)
• 6 x Spectacular Rustgill (Gymnopilus junonius)
• 3 x Yellow Stainer (Agaricus xanthodermus)

Other Species

• 42 x Portuguese Millipede (Ommatoiulus moreleti)
• 3 x Common Pill Woodlouse (Armadillidium vulgare)
• 2 x Port Jackson Shark (Heterodontus portusjacksoni)

Congratulations to all who contributed to Australia's first participation in the City Nature Challenge. It's great to see so many new users signing up and sharing their discoveries. Although the challenge is over, don't let that stop you from sharing what your find. The local iNat community continues to grow as a source of great knowledge on local species and natural places. Join one or more of the ever growing list of local SA iNat projects and help build the community.

(Challenge totals are calculated as of the end of May 3rd. Additional observations and IDs added after this time will still show in the challenge project, but are not counted in the challenge totals. Species totals are calculated using several methods, with the totals on the project page differing a little from the final totals for the challenge).

If the answers are ‘yes’, we’d love to hear from you.
In a study funded by SA Health’s Office for Ageing Well, we are investigating the health and wellbeing benefits of citizen science participation. For this, we are seeking citizen scientists aged over 50 to answer a series of questionnaires about physical activity, social connections, and overall quality of life.
Participants will receive a short book on Australian fauna or flora as a small token of our appreciation.

This project has been approved by the University of South Australia's Human Research Ethics Committee Ethics, Protocol 202830.
If you are interested in taking part, please contact michelle.rogers@unisa.edu.au