Citizen scientists are set to step outside to photograph wonderful wildlife in the natural world.<\/p>\n
Hoake ki te Taiao City Nature Challenge is a \u2018\u2018BioBlitz\u2019\u2019 that inspires participants to use smartphones to capture images of flora and fauna during the Anzac Day long weekend between Friday April 24 and Monday April 27.<\/p>\n
Participants upload images to an international biodiversity database using the iNaturalist app. The software automatically analyses the photographs to identify the most likely species. Top suggestions are also offered if the main recommendation does not look correct. Additional details such as date, time and location are logged alongside the entry.<\/p>\n
City Nature Challenge committee member Jacqueline Theis said experts from across the globe were able to assess the images.<\/p>\n
If three experts all agreed on what the species in the image was, it was marked as \u2018\u2018research grade\u2019\u2019 and could be used for genuine scientific study.<\/p>\n
Fellow committee member Connal McLean said the iNaturalist app is used all around the world in science projects as well as community projects.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018So it can be used by universities, independent research institutions or a primary school classroom.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018The main messaging behind the city nature challenge is getting folks outside, because we can\u2019t conserve whatever we have got if we don\u2019t know we have it in the first place.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
A simple observation could reveal a rare specimen or identify creatures previously unrecorded in the region.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018The avatar moth was discovered in the Denison Plateau and that was the first time it was ever sighted.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018So it was discovered, it was put on iNaturalist and it was discovered during a BioBlitz, which is what the City Nature Challenge is,\u2019\u2019 Mr McLean said.<\/p>\n
The event pits locations across the globe against each other in a light-hearted competition to see which area can record the most wild plants and animals during the set period.<\/p>\n
More than 1100 cities across the world were anticipated to take part, Mr McLean said.<\/p>\n
Co-organiser Tabitha Heaton said people could organise their own expedition or join another gathering.<\/p>\n
She is organising a University of Otago BioBlitz that will begin on Friday, April 24 at 9am from the Union Lawn. It is hosted by the university\u2019s Sustainability Office, Toit\u016b te Taiao.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018I was part of a university BioBlitz where I am from in the UK and a couple of years before the one I joined, they found a new species of spider during it as well.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
Details<\/p>\n
Hoake ki te Taiao City\u00a0Nature Challenge\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2022 Friday, April 24 to\u00a0Monday, April 27\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2022 Download the App (Android or iPhone) at\u00a0inaturalist.org<\/p>\n