Location, Location, Location
Hello all! We have grown significantly since my last journal post, so welcome everybody! I hope you have been getting out on the trail or outside, as the weather is warming up in New England. National Trails Day was June 4th, and it was a beautiful day to hike.
In this post, I want to highlight the importance of metadata, or information about data that scientists can use. When you make an observation, you are contributing to a multitude of data fields. With just a picture and an ID, our curators can glean information such as phenology, location, elevation, surrounding community, and more. With this information AMC's research team can understand how environmental factors are contributing to the phenology of your observation. For example, if you are at a summit or have gained significant elevation, we would expect later flowering times (it's just a bit colder at higher elevations). If was a wicked storm in your area, we may be able to explain a sudden loss of petals on your plant.
All in all, knowing when and where you take your observation is essential. To allow us to see your location, make sure you allow iNaturalist to use your location, and when joining the project make sure to check "Yes, no matter who adds the observation to the project" when prompted about private/obscured coordinates. When on the trail, before clicking submit on your observation, wait a few seconds. We are looking for an accuracy of 100 meters or less - if you pause before submitting, iNaturalist will be able to narrow down your location to this range. With just a few extra seconds and click of a button, our scientists can get a much clearer picture of our woodland ecosystems.
We appreciate your help in this project, and we look forward to your observations! Happy hiking!
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