augustfrisk's Journal

Listed here are some resources that I have found useful for identifying birds by sight, sound, and indirect means such as feathers, tracks, nests, and more. I have prioritized online resources in an effort to increase access to information. If you know of any resources that you would like to share, please leave a comment!

Birds

• All About Birds
• Bird-sounds
• BirdNET
• Macaulay Library
• National Audubon Society
• Nest Watch

Feathers

• All About Feathers
• Feather Atlas
• Featherbase
• Found Feathers (iNaturalist project)
• University of Puget Sound Wing & Tail Image Collection

Books

• John C. Kricher. 2020. Peterson reference guide to bird behavior.
• Casey McFarland, Matthew Monjello & David Moskowitz. 2021. Peterson field guide to North American bird nests.
• Roger T. Peterson & Michael DiGiorgio. 2020. Peterson field guide to birds of western North America (Fifth edition).
• S. David Scott & Casey McFarland. 2010. Bird feathers: A guide to North American species.
• Scott Weidensaul. 2015. Owls of North America and the Caribbean.
• Rick Wright. 2019. Peterson reference guide to sparrows of North America.

Listed here are some resources that I have found useful for identifying plants. I have prioritized online resources in an effort to increase access to information. If you know of any resources that you would like to share, please leave a comment!

Plants

• Calflora
• California Native Plant Society: Helpful Tools
• Jepson eFlora
• North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox
• Oregon State University: Landscape Plants
• SEINet (Southwestern US)
• SelecTree
• University of Utah: Botany Vascular Plants
• Wildflower Center

Listed here are some resources that I have found useful for identifying and learning more about various organisms. I have prioritized online resources in an effort to increase access to information. If you know of any resources that you would like to share, please leave a comment!

Other

• American Museum of Natural History Library Digital Repository
• Animal Diversity Web
• Biodiversity Heritage Library (archived literature)
• BoneID
• California Fish Website
• California Herps
• Freshwater Gastropods of North America
• Freshwater Mollusk Conservation Society
• MykoWeb
• PLOS ONE (open access journal)
• ResearchGate (research articles)
• University of Utah: Vertebrate Zoology Voucher Images

Listed here are some resources that I have found useful for identifying various insects, spiders, and other terrestrial arthropods. I have prioritized online resources in an effort to increase access to information. If you know of any resources that you would like to share, please leave a comment!

General Arachnids, insects, and others

• BugGuide (North America)
• Eggs & Egg Coverings of Terrestrial Invertebrates (iNaturalist project)
• Galerie du Monde des insectes (Europe)
• Spencer Entomological Collection (mostly British Columbia, the Yukon, and Alaska)
• University of Utah: Entomology Specimen Photos (mostly North America)
• Urban Entomology (mostly California)

Ants

• AntWiki
• AntWeb
• Gordon Lab

Butterflies and moths

• Butterflies of America
• Butterflies and Moths of North America
• Central California Butterflies
• Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society
• Moths of North America
• Moth Photographers Group
• Pacific Northwest Moths

Dragonflies and damselflies

• California Dragonflies & Damselflies (Odonata)
• Dragonflies (Odonata) of the Greater Southwest

Flies

• Field/Photo ID for Flies
• Manual of Nearctic Diptera Vol. 1
• Manual of Nearctic Diptera Vol. 2
• Manual of Nearctic Diptera Vol. 3

Gall inducing insects, arachnids, and others

• Forbes Lab
• Gallformers
• Gall inducer emergence calculator
• Joyce Gross Photography

Insect sounds

• Insect Singers
• Singing Insects of North America

Spiders and other arachnids

• Jumping Spiders of the World
• Peckham Society
• Spider Genitals (iNaturalist project)
• Srivastava Lab
• World Arachnid Catalog
• World Spider Catalog
• World Spider Trait Database

Other arthropods

• Carabidae, Zopheridae, and Tenebrionidae of the North American West Coast
• Collembola
• Lacewing Digital Library
• Orthopterist's Society
• Planthoppers of North America
• ScaleNet
• Soapberry Bugs of the World
• Treehoppers

What are we doing with the data we are collecting from this project? Today I formulated a project proposal for the Intro to Geospatial Applications class taught by Dr Jose Diaz-Garayua. This will be the first project made with the dataset. This information would not be possible without the hundreds of users who have made thousands of contributions over the past 12 years. Please note that all research products from this project will be fully open access and available to the public.

Project Proposal

Author: August Frisk
Date: 9/26/2024

Title: Analyzing iNaturalist Data to Understand Biodiversity and User Behavior on Stanislaus State University Campus

Abstract:
This study investigates the utilization of iNaturalist data from the CSU Stanislaus project to understand the biodiversity on campus. By analyzing user-reported species, observation frequency, and temporal trends, the study aims to explore the factors influencing iNaturalist usage and its impact on biodiversity documentation.

Specific research questions include:

• User Engagement: How has the popularity of iNaturalist correlated with the number of active users on the CSU Stanislaus campus?
• Species Diversity: Has an increase in campus users led to a corresponding increase in the diversity of reported species?
• Construction Impact: How have construction projects on campus affected the types of species observed and reported?
• Location Influence: Does the location within the campus (e.g., walkways, parking lots, restricted areas) influence the types of species documented?

By addressing these questions, this study contributes to a deeper understanding of the role of citizen science platforms like iNaturalist in biodiversity monitoring and conservation efforts on university campuses.