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https://www.morningagclips.com/report-cover-crops-benefits-may-outweigh-water-use-in-california/

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DAVIS, Calif. - Cover crops are planted to protect and improve the soil between annual crops such as tomatoes or between rows of tree and vine crops, but growers may be concerned about the water use of these plants that don't generate income.

"Cover crops are one of the most popular practices we see farmers employ through our Healthy Soils Program," said Karen Ross, secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture. "Cover crops supply a host of benefits, such as helping to protect against soil erosion, improving soil health, crowding out weeds, controlling pests and diseases, and increasing biodiversity; and they can bring increased profitability as the number of other inputs are reduced. They also provide water benefits such as improved infiltration and reduced runoff."

These potential benefits are especially salient in the San Joaquin Valley, where groundwater challenges are more acute. A new report evaluates the water implications of cover cropping practices to lay the groundwork for their adoption in the context of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, or SGMA, which is intended to protect groundwater resources over the long-term.

"Yes, cover crops require a nominal amount of water to establish - and sometimes rainwater is sufficient - but the myriad co-benefits are worth it," Ross said.

Growers, water resource planners and managers, crop consultants, irrigation practitioners and policymakers may find the cover crops report useful.

The report is the product of a convening process jointly developed by the California Association of Resource Conservation Districts, CDFA, Natural Resources Conservation Service of California, and University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources, and assembled by nonprofit Sustainable Conservation.

The multidisciplinary group of more than 30 individuals has published " Cover Cropping in the SGMA Era." The literature review, policy analysis and recommendations pertain to the water impacts of cover crop practices in California's Central Valley under SGMA.

Cover crops and their potential

"Wintertime rain-fed cover cropping does not necessarily significantly increase water losses compared to bare ground in the winter months," said co-author Daniele Zaccaria, associate professor in agricultural water management for Cooperative Extension at UC Davis. "Cover cropping can significantly improve soil-water dynamics, increasing soil water infiltration and storage and reducing surface runoff."

To reap the benefits of cover crops using minimal water, Zaccaria said growers will need to know how the plants perform under different conditions.

"We need to develop and implement a coordinated research effort to increase understanding of net water impacts of cover crops under various meteorological conditions - dry, wet, average," he said.

Report findings and recommendations

To understand the potential of cover cropping under SGMA, the report's authors came together to answer the following questions:

1. What are the impacts of cover crops on water cycles (both benefits and use)?

2. How does SGMA management account for cover cropping and is it capturing cover crop benefits alongside their water use?

3. How can we ensure that this practice remains available to growers where and when it makes sense?

This report synthesizes the learnings from the collaborative initiative including 100-plus multidisciplinary experts, a policy analysis, interviews with Groundwater Sustainability Agency (GSA) staff and consultants, and the expertise contributed by its 30-plus authors. In light of these findings, the report advances a series of recommendations aimed at bridging critical knowledge gaps, enhancing the integration of cover crops into policies and incentive programs, and bolstering data infrastructure and other mechanisms to support sustainable groundwater management initiatives.

One vital throughline is the need for additional guidance from the state to support local GSAs in facing the complex challenges of developing and implementing groundwater management strategies for their local watersheds. These measures aim to optimize cover crop integration within SGMA frameworks and promote sustainable water management practices crucial for the region's agricultural resilience and environmental health.

"This report is unique because the university collaborated closely with state agencies and private sector partners to ensure that the different perspectives provided both the best science available as well as viable policy options," said Glenda Humiston, University of California vice president for agriculture and natural resources. "By taking a comprehensive view, we can advance recommendations for cover crop policy that help us meet multiple goals, manage our natural resources more effectively, and avoid unintended consequences."

Sarah Light, UC Cooperative Extension agronomy farm advisor, is one of the UC ANR experts who provided science-based information during the convening sessions and co-authored the white paper.

"Cover crops are a valuable soil health practice that can help ensure the resilience of California farms to climate extremes," saidLight. "As we balance the complexities of water and soil management, it is important to understand the role that cover crops play in an annual water budget so that they are not disincentivized in certain parts of the state. This paper can provide guidance to GSAs and policymakers who are charged with implementing SGMA in their regions."

The report " Cover Cropping in the SGMA Era" can be downloaded for free at https://suscon.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/SC-Cover-Crop-SGMA-Report.pdf.

Related research links:

Long-term reduced tillage and winter cover crops can improve soil quality without depleting moisture https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1cr6w7dp

Impacts of winter cover cropping on soil moisture and evapotranspiration in California's specialty crop fields may be minimal during winter months https://californiaagriculture.org/article/108637

Water-related impacts of cover cropping in California https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=mTNLx6LzEt0
UC Agriculture and Natural Resources brings UC information and practices to all 58 California counties. Through research and Cooperative Extension in agriculture, natural resources, economic growth, nutrition and youth development, our mission is to improve the lives of all Californians. Learn more at ucanr.edu and support our work at donate.ucanr.edu.
-Pam Kan-Rice
UC Agriculture and Natural Resources

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Report: Cover Crops Benefits May Outweigh Water-Use in California

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DAVIS, Calif. -- Cover crops are planted to protect and improve the soil between annual crops such as tomatoes or between rows of tree and...

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https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adf2572

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Mapping

We strive to map Indigenous territories, treaties, and languages across the world in a way that goes beyond colonial ways of thinking in order to better represent how Indigenous people want to see themselves.

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Native Land is a resource to learn more about Indigenous territories, languages, lands, and ways of life. We welcome you to our site.

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https://www.landiq.com/land-use-mapping

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The Land IQ land use mapping categorizes nearly 15.4 million acres of land use in California into more than 50 crop and land use types with accuracies exceeding 98%.

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The .gov means it's official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you're on a federal government site.

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The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Affiliations

¹ Meise Botanic Garden, Meise, Belgium.

² Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, in the BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics, Biodiversity and Land Planning, University of Porto, Vairão, Portugal.

³ Research Institute for Nature and Forest, Brussels, Belgium.

⁴ Zoology in the School of Life Sciences at Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, England, United Kingdom.

⁵ Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus.

⁶ Autonomous University of Barcelona, Bellaterra, Catalonia, Spain.

⁷ Joint Services Health Unit British Forces Cyprus, Akrotiri, Cyprus.

⁸ UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology in Wallingford, England, United Kingdom.

⁹ Ovidius University, Constanța, Romania.

¹⁰ Department of Biology at the University of Florence, Sesto Fiorentino, Italy.

Free PMC article

Free PMC article

Affiliations

¹ Meise Botanic Garden, Meise, Belgium.

² Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, in the BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics, Biodiversity and Land Planning, University of Porto, Vairão, Portugal.

³ Research Institute for Nature and Forest, Brussels, Belgium.

⁴ Zoology in the School of Life Sciences at Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, England, United Kingdom.

⁵ Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus.

⁶ Autonomous University of Barcelona, Bellaterra, Catalonia, Spain.

⁷ Joint Services Health Unit British Forces Cyprus, Akrotiri, Cyprus.

⁸ UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology in Wallingford, England, United Kingdom.

⁹ Ovidius University, Constanța, Romania.

¹⁰ Department of Biology at the University of Florence, Sesto Fiorentino, Italy.

Abstract

Bioblitzes are a popular approach to engage people and collect biodiversity data. Despite this, few studies have actually evaluated the multiple outcomes of bioblitz activities. We used a systematic review, an analysis of data from more than 1000 bioblitzes, and a detailed analysis of one specific bioblitz to inform our inquiry. We evaluated five possible bioblitz outcomes, which were creating a species inventory, engaging people in biological recording, enhancing learning about nature, discovering a species new to an area, and promoting an organization. We conclude that bioblitzes are diverse but overall effective at their aims and have advantages over unstructured biodiversity recording. We demonstrate for the first time that bioblitzes increase the recording activity of the participants for several months after the event. In addition, we provide evidence that bioblitzes are effective at bringing people and organizations together to build communities of professionals and amateurs, critical for conserving and protecting biodiversity.

Keywords: Bioblitz; engagement; iNaturalist; invasive alien species; species inventory.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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References

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Alonso LE, Deichmann JL, McKenna SA, Naskrecki P, Richards SJ.. 2011. Still Counting...: Biodiversity Exploration for Conservation: The First 20 Years of the Rapid Assessment Program. Conservation International.

Altrudi S. 2021. Connecting to nature through tech? The case of the iNaturalist app. Convergence 27: 124-141.

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Biodiversity hotspot case study: California

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https://youtu.be/zLvJLHERYJI?si=6dxfs64usGpqzhDl

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A Biological Control Buffet in the Salad Bowl of America

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Join us in the Eutrophication lab, where you take the role as an environmental investigator and study concept of eutrophication and harmful algal bloom. Use the knowledge you acquire to to solve a massive fish kill mystery.
Help the suffering fish
In the Marine Biology lab, you discovered that the fish were dying of suffocation, and now you want to know more about what caused the low dissolved oxygen levels. In the Eutrophication lab, you will use microscopy to analyze the biological matter in the water and spectrophotometry to study dissolved nitrogen levels. This will give you the data you need to conclude your investigation.
Analyze water samples
In the Marine Biology Lab you discovered that the low oxygen in the water was causing the fish to suffocate. Looking for more data, you will now analyze the water sample using the microscope. In this way you can study the biological matter in the water to find out if the algae could have something to do with the low oxygen levels.
Determine the source of the algal bloom
In the Eutrophication lab, you will learn about the nitrogen cycle and how human activity can influence it. You will analyze nitrogen content in the water sample using spectrophotometry. An interactive map will help you determine the source of the excessive nitrogen run-off that caused the harmful algal bloom.

Will you be able to solve the fish kill mystery?

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Join us in the Eutrophication lab, where you take the role as an environmental investigator and study concept of eutrophication and harmful algal bloom. Use the knowledge you acquire to to solve a massive fish kill mystery.

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Can we use a model to predict the impacts of nutrient pollutants on an aquatic ecosystem? In this activity, students participate in a kinesthetic simulation to illustrate how nutrient pollution from agricultural runoff can lead to a dead zone at the mouth of a drainage basin.

In this active model, students will simulate sugar molecule production to store energy-using ping pong balls!

How does the finite amount of carbon on this planet move around in the environment, from one place to another?

Learn what it takes to develop, grow and consume some of the foods and water we need.

Appropriate for: 6th Grade - 11th Grade

Standards for: 6th Grade, 7th Grade, 8th Grade

Activity Time: 120 minutes

Subjects: Developing & Using Models, Systems & System Models

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This year's closures are having a devastating effect on the Academy. But until Dec. 31, all gifts will be matched 5x, up to $200,000, to support our scientific research, education programs, and care and conservation of our animals.

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Year-End Resilience Drive

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This year's closures are having a devastating effect on the Academy. But until Dec. 31, all gifts will be matched, up to $100,000, to support our scientific research, education programs, and care and conservation of our animals.

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Can we use a model to predict the impacts of nutrient pollutants on an aquatic ecosystem?

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https://ipm.ucanr.edu/

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For noncommercial purposes only, any Web site may link directly to this page. FOR ALL OTHER USES or more information, read Legal Notices. Unfortunately, we cannot provide individual solutions to specific pest problems. See our Home page, or in the U.S., contact your local Cooperative Extension office for assistance.

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Coastal waters of California face many challenges such as pressure from fishing, introduction of invasive species, and eutrophication. Elkhorn Slough Estuary is no exception and although fishing and invasive species may seem more conspicuous at first, eutrophication is of increasing concern in our estuary. Eutrophication is defined as an increase in nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorous, which are primarily being taken up by plants or algae in the water. In a non-eutrophic system, nitrogen and phosphorous (in addition to light) can limit the growth of algae. However, provided plenty of nutrients algal growth can greatly increase, which in turn can affect many other inhabitants of the estuary.

In eutrophic systems, water quality is different from that of non-eutrophic systems. Just like plants, algae photosynthesize during the day when light is available. The algae release oxygen which becomes available as dissolved oxygen utilized by fish and invertebrates in the estuary. At night, with no light available for photosynthesis, algae (and all aquatic Slough organisms from microbes to clams to fish) respire and thus remove dissolved oxygen from the water in the estuary. Hence, in a eutrophic estuary, dissolved oxygen levels can be very high during the day and extremely low during the night. This can pose a problem for non-motile organisms such as oysters, clams, and other invertebrates, which have to limit water intake during periods of low oxygen (essentially "holding their breath"), and as these invertebrates are filter feeders, it means that they can't feed for prolonged periods of time. Although fish have the ability to move from areas with low or extremely high levels of dissolved oxygen, an excess of algae driving dissolved oxygen levels to near 0 mg/L at night can be problematic. Furthermore, excess algal growth can result in large mats of floating algae, mainly from March to October. These algal mats get deposited on the marsh during high tides, and the mats can remain covering the marsh plants for extended periods of time.

Hence eutrophication can limit growth and reproduction of invertebrates, cause fish kills, and possibly smother marsh plants.

Our research
In order to better understand eutrophication at the slough we utilize long term monitoring data from our four permanent water quality stations, in addition to long term monitoring data from our monthly collected water samples at 18 permanent stations, spanning from the very head of the slough at Carneros Creek, to the mouth at Moss Landing Harbor, and including sites connected to Moro Cojo Slough, and Salinas River. Additionally, over the years, we and other researchers have conducted various studies at the slough, in order to better understand the effects of eutrophication on our estuarine system.

Nutrients in Elkhorn Slough
From 1997 to 2010 various researchers have examined temporal and spatial variation in nutrients at Elkhorn Slough, and the effects on water quality, Caffrey et al. 1997. For example, biogeochemical processes in the slough were affected by a 2-week foggy period. Fog that was associated with upwelling in Monterey Bay, led to increased durations of water column hopoxia, by reducing photosynthetically active radiation, Caffrey et al. 2010. Other researchers found that in general, nutrient concentratinos have increased from the 1970s to the 1990s. Dissolved inorganic nitrogen was low during the dry season in the summer and high during the wet season in winter. Additionally, nitrate concentrations peaked within a short time lag after a run-off event in the wet season and primary production was enhanced by nutrient pulses, Caffrey et al. 2007.

ESNERR water quality scientist John Haskins in collaboration with local researchers has lead efforts to better understand nutrient loads to the estuary, by measuring both nutrient concentrations and water flow in key tributaries.

Water quality at managed wetlands
ESNERR researchers support the adaptive management of wetlands behind water control structures. The Elkhorn Slough Foundation recently replaced water control structures at its North Azevedo Pond, and ESNERR researchers are examining how dissolved oxygen and marsh cover can be optimized through tide gate management. ESNERR intern Miguel Rodriguez investigated the relationship between water depth and dissolved oxygen levels. Since eutrophication can lead to low levels of dissolved oxygen, he found that by maintaining a certain depth in the body of water, dissolved oxygen levels can possibly be managed (Rodriguez poster). ESNERR water quality scientist John Haskins has also spearheaded an effort to decrease hypoxia at the Reserve's North Marsh by deploying structures that increase circulation.
Detecting improvements due to restoration
ESNERR researchers have also examined long-term water data to examine the effects of restoration. They found that water quality at middle and south Azevedo marshes improved significantly (relative to adjacent Kirby Park) following restoration that included creating a broad buffer between farm fields and the wetland, Gee et al. 2010. They also found that water quality at Porter Marsh improved following acquisition and restoration of lands along Carneros Creek. This study also examined the role of tidal flushing through water control structures at these sites, and found that eutrophication symptoms were dramatically decreased with increasing tidal exchange - the water control structures affected local water quality more than did adjacent restoration.

Eutrophication Index
An ESNERR team analyzed spatial patterns of eutrophication in the Elkhorn Slough estuary, determining that the estuary overall is moderately eutrophic. Eutrophication symptoms were not greatest in the areas with the greatest nutrient concentrations. Instead, they were greatest in the areas with the least tidal flushing. In particular, most wetlands behind water control structures were hypereutrophic, Hughes et al. 2011.

Effects of low levels of dissolved oxygen on fish and oysters
In 2011, summer interns Miguel Rodriguez and Jenna Van Parys, in collaboration with slough staff, conducted a short-term experiment where they investigated the effect of low levels of dissolved oxygen on oyster growth and fish survival. They found decreased growth rates of oysters and increased rates of fish mortality in areas of low dissolved oxygen (Van Parys Poster).

Effects of floating algal mats on marsh plants
In order to better understand the effects of floating algae covering the marsh plant pickleweed, summer interns Laura Mercado, Amanda Peters, Brady Latham, and volunteer Rob Eby, in collaboration with slough staff conducted experiments where we manipulated Ulva cover on pickleweed for about two months. Results suggest that pickleweed above-ground biomass decreased after Ulvahas been covering pickleweed for a few months. However, once the Ulva was removed, pickleweed seemed to recover in the time span of a few months.

In order to be able to evaluate water quality at different sites in the slough, using our continuously collected data on water quality and nutrient concentrations, intern Laura Mercado and ESNERR researchers developed a eutrophication scorecard for different sites within Elkhorn Slough. In order to calculate a eutrophication index, we incorporated water quality parameters such as total dissolved Nitrogen, total Phosphorus (Orthophosphate), chlorophyll a, free ammonia, floating algae, dissolved oxygen, pH, turbidity, and temperature.

For more information about eutrophication in Elkhorn Slough, you can contact our research staff.

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Eutrophication in Elkhorn Slough - Elkhorn Slough

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Coastal waters of California face many challenges such as pressure from fishing, introduction of invasive species, and eutrophication. Elkhorn Slough Estuary is no exception and although fishing and invasive species may seem more conspicuous at first, eutrophication is of increasing concern in our estuary.

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https://trackingcalifornia.org/pesticides/pesticide-mapping-tool

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Pesticide Mapping Tool --- Tracking California

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Tracking California developed the Agricultural Pesticide Mapping Tool to enable users to more easily access, explore, and visualize the…

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https://youtu.be/i56_R8z1N28

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Open Your Camera and Start Seeking!

Found a mushroom, flower, or bug, and not sure what it is? Open up the Seek camera to see if it knows!

Drawing from millions of wildlife observations on iNaturalist, Seek shows you lists of commonly recorded insects, birds, plants, amphibians, and more in your area. Scan the environment with the Seek Camera to identify organisms using the tree of life. Add different species to your observations and learn all about them in the process! The more observations you make, the more badges you'll earn!

Kid-Safe and Fun for Families

No registration is involved, and no user data is collected.

Seek will ask permission to turn on location services, but your location is obscured to respect your privacy while still allowing species suggestions from your general area. Your precise location is never stored in the app or sent to iNaturalist.

Our image recognition technology is based on observations submitted to iNaturalist.org and partner sites, and identified by the iNaturalist community.

This is a great app for families who want to spend more time exploring nature together.

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Found a mushroom, flower, or bug, and not sure what it is? Open up the Seek camera to see if it knows! Drawing from millions of wildlife observations on iNaturalist, Seek shows you lists of commonly recorded insects, birds, plants, amphibians, and more in your area.

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High School Schoolyard Bioblitz curriculum -- from New Brunswick

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High School Schoolyard Bioblitz curriculum -- from New Brunswick

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https://www.naturenb.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Bioblitz-Kit-High-School-EN.pdf

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https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/teacher%27s+guide

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iNat might seem like the perfect blend of science and mobile technology, but too often it gets misused in the classroom, and as a result iNat gets a flood of poor observations, and the students participating don't have a good experience. In order to help you avoid some common problems, here are some pointers for teachers seeking to use iNaturalist in the classroom.

First Explore Existing Observations

Before your class adds any data, explore what has been observed in your area. iNaturalist already has the boundaries for every country in the world, and two administrative levels below that (e.g. for the United States, iNaturalist also has all state and county level boundaries). You can reference these tutorials ( web, video) about exploring observations. Use the nearby observations to reflect on what has been recorded, why, and what makes for good documentation.

Use iNaturalist Yourself

Try to add 20-30+ observations before considering how you will use iNaturalist with your students. iNat will make a lot more sense to you after some firsthand experience. This can be as simple as using the app on a short hike or a walk around your block, or better yet, try to use it at a place and time that are similar to where and when you are expecting your students to use it. Please don't just install the app, make an observation of your dog, and think that you are sufficiently prepared.

Consider Using the "Seek by iNaturalist" App for Your Students Instead

Check out Seek by iNaturalist which is an educational tool built on iNaturalist. It may be a better fit for your class than iNaturalist because it doesn't actually post observations to iNaturalist, but still provides some tools such as automated species identification and nature journaling. While the iNaturalist app is rated 4+ on the app stores, that assumes that teachers use a classroom log-in or acquire parental permission before students sign in since you otherwise must be 13+ to create an account. We instead recommend Seek as the easier alternative for young beginner naturalists.

Download the Seek User Guide

Consider using field guides, sketching, and hands-on exploration rather than a smart device

While it may sound quaint or old fashioned, consider having your students (especially those in elementary school) take a break from screens and instead get their hands dirty looking for bugs, worms, and weeds, then sketch what they've found and/or look them up in picture books or field guides. Learning to sketch an animal or plant is a great way to sharpen observation skills and really get to know an organism.

Be Sure to Make Useful Observations

If some of your goals are for your students to get some identification help, to engage in discussions with the iNaturalist community, and to make observations that are valuable to others, here are a few useful pointers:

Take identifiable photos: Photos of distant trees or speck-like birds will not garner much attention because they're usually hard to identify, so make sure you show your students how to fill the frame with your subject, perhaps using the phone or camera's zoom. Because smartphone cameras are designed primarily for photographing humans and landscapes (and, apparently, food), taking an in-focus photo of an insect or a plant is actually quite difficult. Using your hand to hold a flower or plant still can be helpful, but make sure the plant is not dangerous. A quick lesson on how to use various features (focussing, point focussing, light level adjustment, etc.) of a smartphone camera may also be in order.

Take multiple photos: Many organisms, particularly plants and insects, cannot be identified to species from a single photo. Show students how to take multiple photos from different angles (top, bottom, side, front, back), and/or photos showing different features of the organism. For plants it's especially important to take pictures of flowers or fruit. Photos of flowers or fruit AND leaves are the most helpful. Be sure to add multiple photos of the same organism to the same observation.

Focus on wild organisms: Most students seem to focus on the cultivated plants and animals they can find near their classroom. That's totally fine, but in general, the iNat community is more interested in wild organisms, and respond more to pictures of weeds and bugs than to cultivated roses and hamsters in cages. Many students don't actually understand the difference between cultivated organisms and wild organisms, so this could be a great opportunity to discuss this with them. If students do make observations of garden plants or other non-wild organisms, remind them to make sure to mark those observations as "Captive/Cultivated" before uploading them.

Pay attention to metadata: Metadata is the additional information associated with a photo that captures when and (often) where a photo was originally taken. If students post photos that are screen shots of photos, they will lose the original data which may result in incorrect data entry. Depending on the method used, sharing photos between two devices may also lose important metadata such as location. Watch for locations and dates that may not make sense and help your students correct them.

Be the Steward of Your Class's Data

Since most students use iNat under duress, they are often not responsive to comments and identifications from the community, and often don't respond to data quality issues (wrong coordinates, copyright infringements, etc.). Some members of the iNat community find this frustrating, so we'd appreciate it if you could take responsibility for these issues by looking over all the contributions from your class and following these best practices:

Add identifications: Try to identify all of your students' observations to the best of your ability, and consider identifications added by the community. If you agree with community opinions, please help out by adding agreeing identifications, but if you disagree, please add contradicting identifications.

Manage data quality: Every observation has a "Data Quality Assessment" area at the bottom where the community can vote on issues like whether the organism was wild or not, whether the location and date look accurate, etc. Please make sure to use these tools to flag any issues with your students' observations.

Watch out for copyright violations: Investigate suspicious images from your students. Google Images is an excellent tool for this. Use the camera icon in the search box to search for similar images by URL. Or, in Chrome, you can right-click the image in the observation and select "Search Google for image". This will often reveal whether someone just uploaded an image they found on the internet.

Watch out for inappropriate content: Unfortunately, much of the inappropriate and offensive content that has been posted to iNaturalist has come from students who have been assigned to use iNaturalist. Look out for insults, racist comments, selfies, and joke IDs, and be very explicit with expectations and consequences before using iNaturalist with your students. Each observation on iNaturalist is public and available for the entire world to see.

Test Test Test / How to Test Your Own Protocols

You definitely don't want to learn how to use iNat at the same time as your students, so make sure that you test out your protocols before teaching them to others. That means test out the following: recording observations, adding comments, and adding identifications.

As a part of your testing and as part of your students' learning curve, you will all inevitably want to make some test observations of subjects that are easy and close at hand, such as pets or a house plants, but you'll get far more out of your test observations if you follow these guidelines:

DO photograph weeds: Weeds are both wild and always nearby. Take a step outside and find something growing in the cracks of the sidewalk, or a leaf that's fallen to the ground.

DO photograph hands: There's always a Homo sapiens nearby and their hands are instantly recognizable to species.

DO mark captive / cultivated organisms: If you do photograph organisms such as pets, zoo animals, houseplants, or garden plants, make sure you mark them as " captive/cultivated" from the app or use the Data Quality Assessment on the website to mark it as not wild.

DO delete your test observations promptly: If you have no intention of keeping them around, please delete them ASAP.

DON'T photograph pets or house plants: These are okay, but they're not likely to get input from the iNat community so you won't be testing community responsiveness very well.

DON'T photograph people's faces: Especially when kids are involved. Many students will be used to posting pictures of themselves to semi-private social media outlets, but iNaturalist is completely public, so please ensure that you and your students respect each others' privacy.

DON'T require students to make Research Grade observations: With some exceptions, Research Grade observations must have a community ID at the species level. This often motivates some students to blindly agree with each other's IDs, leading to inaccurate data and little actual benefit for the students. Furthermore, many organisms (including some spiders, insects, fungi, and plants) cannot be identified to the species level using only photographic evidence, so observations of them may never attain Research Grade. Instead, focus on exploration, discussion, and use of field guides-valuable skills for any nature enthusiast.

DON'T set excessive observation, species, or identification requirements, or set grading, prize, or contest conditions that have the effect of creating a "race" among students. The community does not react favorably to influxes of low-quality observations or identifications from users who are unlikely to continue using the platform when their course ends.

DON'T upload other people's photos: Photos should be taken by the observer of the actual specimen observed at that time and place. Uploading photos taken by others also usually violates United States copyright law and iNaturalist's Terms of Service (read more below).

Children and the Law

Teachers working with younger kids need to keep in mind that the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 means we can't allow people under the age of 13 in the United States to create accounts without parental approval. This restriction is also reflected in our Terms of Service. As of June 2019, we do have a pathway for parental approval for accounts of children under 13, but it requires a small donation to verify identity.

One common workaround is for a teacher to add observations on behalf of the students, without including any personally identifiable information. Rockburn Elementary School teachers set up anonymous, general accounts that students were able to use to record data, but these accounts were administered by the teachers. If you go this route, make sure you take responsibility for the general accounts that you create for use by underage students. For younger children, please consider using Seek instead (see above).

Also, the California Academy of Sciences will not enter into contracts with individual school districts regarding the use of iNaturalist, so if your school district requires an agreement beyond what we have specified in our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy before using iNaturalist, then iNaturalist is not the choice for your classroom.

Class Bioblitzes and Projects on iNaturalist

Many educators organize bioblitzes and/or create projects for their students. Please be aware that creating new iNaturalist places (e.g. a local park or schoolyard) or a Traditional project requires that your account have at least 50 verifiable observations. For more information about those topics, please refer to Managing Projects.

Teach Students About Copyright / Require Them to Post Their Own Photos

One of the most frequent problems we have with classroom participants is that students and more importantly teachers often fail to understand that iNaturalist is for posting your own photos from nature, and that those photos should be evidence of your encounters with living things. They should not simply be photos copied from books or the internet to illustrate the kind of thing that was observed. Copying photos is almost always a violation of copyright law (it certainly is in the US), and is not what iNat photos are for. Be aware that accounts that have multiple copyright infringements may be suspended, and then you'll have to contact help@inaturalist.org to reinstate it.

So at a bare minimum, please tell your students to post their own photos and not arbitrary photos from the web. You could also use this as an opportunity to teach them about copyright and proper attribution when reusing other people's creative works. It's perfectly ok to post iNat observations that don't have a photo.

We recommend that you not have your students include an identification card in their photos in order to prove they're not plagiarized. iNaturalist observations are viewable by anyone on the internet, and identification cards and passports contain sensitive information which can be exploited for nefarious purposes. If you don't feel you can trust your students to submit their own images, then iNaturalist may not be a good fit for them.

Examples

Here are a few notable examples of iNat tutorials and use in the classroom, including coursework, lesson plans, and protocols:

National Geographic has a BioBlitz guide (pdf) along with pre-BioBlitz and post-BioBlitz classroom materials that are aligned to Next Generation Science Standards and National Geography standards. Each classroom-tested activity was specifically tailored to use iNaturalist and contains all of the instructions, powerpoint presentations, and worksheets on the hyperlinked pages.

CalAcademy's Science Action Club Bug Safari unit uses iNaturalist to explore small creatures with big environmental impacts. On local field expeditions, middle school youth search for bugs, collect specimens, and post photos to SAC's iNaturalist project. Designed for out-of-school time, SAC uses games, projects, and exciting investigations to inspire youth to explore nature, contribute to authentic citizen science research, and design strategies to protect the planet.

Connecting Students to Citizen Science and Curated Collections website (2021) with course documents. Geared toward undergraduate students. Contributing authors include Erica R. Krimmel (UC Berkeley's Sagehen Creek Field Station), Debra L. Linton (Central Michigan University), Travis D. Marsico (Arkansas State University), Anna K. Monfils (Central Michigan University), Ashley B. Morris ( Middle Tennessee State University) and Brad R. Ruhfel (University of Michigan).

City Nature Challenge Education Toolkit

iNaturalist Training presentation prepared by Richard Smart from Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.

Julie Wittmann's iNaturalist Project & Curriculum (Montgomery High School, Santa Rosa, CA, 2012). Julie (aka protecthabitat) has done a great job documenting her work integrating iNat into a high school biology class. Her project is still online if you want to check it out. She also has a recently published paper in Citizen Science: Theory and Practice, an open-access, peer-reviewed journal: Using iNaturalist in a Coverboard Protocol to Measure Data Quality: Suggestions for Project Design (Wittmann, Girman, and Crocker, 2019).

UC Berkeley Geography 171: Natural History for the 21st Century. This is undergraduate class Scott (aka loarie) has been teaching for 2 years at UC Berkeley. It explores how the practice of natural history is changing with the influence of new technologies, and how it still plays a major and possibly increasing role in our understanding of nature. 2013 and 2014 projects are still on iNat.

iNaturalist Species Bingo cards by Lena Struwe. Includes instructions, teacher's grading rubric, and presentation slides (species are pertinent to eastern North America, but could be modified for your region)

Exploring iNaturalist Data in Your Classroom by Anne Lewis. Guided videos demonstrating using the species/location search, examining potential food webs in a particular area, tracking organism locations across the seasons

Macaulay Honors College at CUNY. Kelly O'Donnell (klodonnell) has been starting the fall semester with a BioBlitz for her college sophomores since 2013. The BioBlitz is the foundation for semester-long projects about biodiversity, culminating with a poster presentation at the end of the semester. You can read more here about the data they collected in 2015.

iNaturalist used in teaching about natural history collections in the Connecting Students to Citizen Science and Curated Collections project.

Taylor Wichmanowski (aka mr_wich) created several YouTube videos demonstrating how he uses iNaturalist with his high school students. He also created five thorough lessons for teachers demonstrating how to use iNaturalist in a unit on biodiversity.

Urban Ecosystem Biodiversity Investigation by Chris Widmaier. Example assignment to compare biodiversity in two areas using iNaturalist and other data.

Quick Intro to iNaturalist powerpoint slides on Slideshare by cassi saari, @bouteloua - Just a few slides with introduction to iNaturalist including adding an observation (from browser) and screenshots of the website that you might find helpful to drop into a larger presentation on iNaturalist or organism identification.

Note to site curators: please feel free to fill this page out with other examples or attach relevant documents!

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iNat might seem like the perfect blend of science and mobile technology, but too often it gets misused in the classroom, and as a result iNat gets a flood of poor observations, and the students participating don't have a good experience.

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High School Teacher's video on using iNat in classroom 

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High School Teacher's video on using iNat in classroom 

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How to make a class project, how to upload data, trouble shooting data, how to look at/evaluate each student's photos

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwbF4ptE94tA0UQxgzGrbBQ/search?query=inaturalist

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Share your videos with friends, family, and the world

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https://western.sare.org/

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https://www.parabug.solutions/about-us

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Locations

Parabug is the largest beneficial insect application company in the world!

​

California | Washington | Oregon | Arizona | Alabama | Florida | Australia |

and More!

Our Story

Parabug is a Salinas, California based ag technology company founded by a farmer who loves helping other farmers sustain healthy crops, reduce loss, and increase productivity by applying beneficial insects. Family owned, run, and operated, Parabug's mission is to provide an easy, cost effective way to get beneficial bugs onto your crops to combat destructive pests.

​​

​

Parabug began when Chandler Bennett was a kid growing up on his parent's orchard and he saw how expensive it was to manage pests.

Then, when he spent a summer at Cal Poly, SLO interning at a strawberry farm, he saw how beneficial insects could be used to combat pests. He also saw how time consuming and labor intensive it was to apply them by hand to an entire field and he knew there had to be a better way to save strawberry growers time and money.

He was excited by drone technology at the time and inspired by the lightweight carriers used for beneficial insects, and the two ideas just seemed to click. After a few years at Cal Poly studying engineering and agriculture, Chandler used his dual passions to draft the first sketches of what would become the patent pending Parabug technology.

We Think Beneficial Insects Are Awesome

Our technology is backed by third party research by UC extension scientists and universities to provide sound, unbiased research about biological release and pest management.

Every service provider is vetted by our team in Salinas, goes through extensive Parabug training, and is licensed and insured in accordance with local ordinances. Every pilot we work with has a FAA Part 107 Certificate and every California pilot has a Pest Control Pilot's License.

As family farmers, we know that educating the next generation is key to our success as a farming community. We take time out of our flying schedule to participate in Monterey County Farm Days which involves educating local third graders on farm practices in Salinas, and we also are connected with CSUMB where we mentor college students through their capstone projects about Ag technology. Chandler also sits on the Butte College Agriculture Business and Science Advisory Committee, and we participate in the Lodi Winegrape Commission's Family Field Day that teaches kids about beneficial insects and agriculture as a whole.

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Locations Parabug is the largest beneficial insect application company in the world! ​ California | Washington | Oregon | Arizona | Alabama | Florida | Australia | and More! Our Story Parabug is a Salinas, California based ag technology company founded by a farmer who loves helping other farmers sustain healthy crops, reduce loss, and increase productivity by applying beneficial insects.

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https://ucanr.edu/blogs/SalinasValleyAgriculture/index.cfm

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Author: Steven T. Koike, Plant Pathology Farm Advisor

Published on: June 22, 2011

The unusually cold, wet, and rainy weather during March through June 2011 has created conditions that favor the development of Botrytis crown rot of lettuce in several counties in coastal California. Botrytis crown rot, also known as gray mold, has resulted in stand loss and reduced yields in numerous fields.

Transplanted lettuce: Crown tissue on transplants in the field becomes brown to orange-brown in color and soft. The characteristic fuzzy gray sporulation of the pathogen is usually present on the affected crown tissue in contact with the soil. Botrytis crown rot causes transplanted lettuce to wilt, collapse, and eventually dry up and die. While still in trays and under greenhouse conditions, lettuce transplants can also become infected with gray mold; however, such infections are usually associated with old, overgrown transplants in which the older leaves have begun to age, turn yellow, and decline (senesce).

Direct seeded lettuce: Direct seeded lettuce can also succumb to Botrytis crown rot. Under most conditions such fields have lower disease incidence and the problem is less serious. However, in spring 2011 a number of direct seeded fields also experienced significant dieback from this disease.

Mature lettuce: Lettuce plants near maturity may appear healthy but develop crown rot close to harvest. Diseased plants will start to wilt, lower leaves turn yellow then brown, and the entire plant will collapse. Examination of the crown will show extensive gray sporulation and the soft, orange-brown decay. Such plants likely were infected earlier in the season and collapsed when the pathogen rotted a significant portion of the lettuce crown.

The pathogen. The causal agent of gray mold on lettuce is Botrytis cinerea. This fungus is a very common organism that readily grows as a saprobe on dead, declining plant tissue and organic matter. The characteristic fuzzy, velvety, grayish brown growth of the fungus can often be readily seen on diseased areas of the lettuce, especially on lettuce crowns in contact with soil and that may be shielded from the sun by overlying leaves. Black sclerotia (hard fungal resting structures measuring from 1/8 to 1/4 inch in diameter) may form on these diseased tissues, although some isolates produce few or no sclerotia. Sclerotia are usually dome-shaped or rounded and may appear similar to sclerotia produced by the species of Sclerotinia ( S. sclerotiorum) that produces large sized resting structures. Botrytis cinerea of lettuce is the same pathogen that causes gray mold disease on grape, strawberry, tomato, ornamental plants, and many other crops.

Disease factors: Botrytis crown rot affects all types of lettuce: iceberg, butterhead, green leaf, red leaf, romaine. Botrytis cinerea most readily infects lettuce tissues that are damaged and exposed to moist, wet conditions. For this reason, Botrytis crown rot is most commonly seen on transplanted lettuce. The process of transplanting lettuce results in unavoidable, minor cracks and injuries to the transplant. If B. cinerea inoculum is lacking, such injuries are incidental and cause little concern. However, if the fungus is present then such wounds allow the pathogen to readily invade and colonize the plant crown. Because spring and early summer romaine is often transplanted, most Botrytis crown rot cases in 2011 involved romaine.

Diagnosis: Diagnosing gray mold will require careful examination. Overall plant wilting and collapsing symptoms caused by gray mold may look very similar to such symptoms caused by Sclerotinia minor (lettuce drop)and perhaps Phoma exigua (Phoma basal rot). Accurate diagnosis, therefore, requires careful examination of the crown and perhaps lab confirmation. Note that if rotted lettuce crowns are colonized by white fungal mycelium, the pathogen is likely Sclerotinia.

Control. Because B. cinerea initiates infection on damaged tissues, as much as possible minimize damage to lettuce that is caused by cultural practices, environmental extremes, or other pathogens and pests. Use transplants that are not too large and overly mature; older transplants are subject to additional leaf breakage and damage during planting, and hence are more susceptible to gray mold infection. Limit damage to lettuce transplants during the planting process, though it is not possible to prevent all injury. In the field, reduce leaf wetness by avoiding or reducing sprinkler irrigation. Schedule crop residue incorporation and soil preparation so that excessive plant residues are minimal at planting. It may be helpful to apply fungicides to protect plants from gray mold. However, if weather conditions strongly favor Botrytis crown rot, such applications may be limited in effectiveness. Before using any fungicide for the control of B. cinerea on lettuce, check product labels and your local Agricultural Commissioner's Office for use information and restrictions.

Figure 1. Orange-brown soft rot and gray sporulation on lettuce caused by Botrytis cinerea

Figure 2. Orange-brown soft rot and gray sporulation on lettuce caused by Botrytis cinerea.

Figure 3. Reduced romaine stand due to Botrytis crown rot of transplants.

Figure 4. Lettuce transplant infected by Botrytis cinerea.

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Salinas Valley Agriculture - Agriculture and Natural Resources Blogs

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Author: Steven T. Koike, Plant Pathology Farm Advisor Published on: June 22, 2011 The unusually cold, wet, and rainy weather during March through June 2011 has created conditions that favor the development of Botrytis crown rot of lettuce in several counties in coastal California.

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https://www.xerces.org/

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The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation

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The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation

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The Xerces Society is a science-based nonprofit organization that protects wildlife through the conservation of invertebrates and their habitats.

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A helpful set of videos on how to look at the iNat data using the web page interface

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1qeVOH1O1t8vRhU_Pji9nHKx9eMj0rtUVUiurQmL8i14/edit#slide=id.p

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http://nmsp.cals.cornell.edu/publications/pindex.html

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The original New York Phosphorus Runoff Index (NY-PI 1.0) was released in 2001. Version 2.0 of the NY-PI, released in December of 2019, reflects subsequent gains in knowledge and addresses challenges that were identified since publishing NY-PI 1.0.

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https://openetdata.org/

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OpenET – Filling the Biggest Data Gap in Water Management

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OpenET uses best available science to provide easily accessible satellite-based estimates of evapotranspiration (ET) for improved water management across the western United States. Using the Data Explorer, users can explore ET data at the field scale for millions of individual fields or at the origi…

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https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3808063/

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The .gov means it's official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you're on a federal government site.

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Abstract

The discovery of the very acidic nature of fog and clouds has created much interest in sampling, analysing, and elucidating the chemistry of fog, principally because an understanding of the chemical transformations leading to acid fog may provide important clues to the origin of acid rain. Recently, the knowledge of the chemistry of fog has expanded to include carbonyl compounds, volatile organic acids, and alkyl sulphonates. We have discovered that a variety of pesticides and their toxic alteration products are present in fog, and that they occasionally reach high concentrations relative to reported rainwater concentrations. In our experiments, we were able to measure the air-water distribution coefficients of pesticides between the liquid fog and the interstitial gas phase. These measurements reveal that some chemicals are enriched several thousandfold in the suspended liquid fog droplets compared to equilibrium distributions expected from Henry's Law coefficients for pure aqueous solutions.

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national center for biotechnology information

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The discovery of the very acidic nature of fog and clouds has created much interest in sampling, analysing, and elucidating the chemistry of fog, principally because an understanding of the chemical transformations leading to acid fog may provide important clues to the origin of acid rain. Recently, ...

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https://agclassroom.org/matrix/resource/1115/

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Agricultural Literacy Curriculum Matrix

Companion Resource

Agricultural Pests

The crops we eat are constantly at risk of harm from pests. But what are these pests? In this activity, students will develop a definition of an agricultural pest that is meaningful to them and identify categories of pests such as insects, rodents, mollusks, weeds, and diseases.

Time to Complete

Materials

Procedures

1. Divide students into small groups and give each group a copy of the Agricultural Pests worksheet.

2. As a class, create a preliminary definition of an "agricultural pest." To begin creating the definition, have students brainstorm in their groups examples of organisms they think might be pests. They should take notes and make changes in their definition as they discuss options with their group.

3. Have students look through the set of agriculture-related pest pictures provided for each group.

4. Instruct students to complete the data table as they review their pictures. If needed, have students research the organisms online to learn if they are pests or beneficial and why they belong in this category. Students should also use the Credible Source Guide as they perform their research. Select a "Fact Checker" for each group.

5. When students complete their data tables, each group should present their findings, and a Fact Checker from another group should verify accuracy.

6. Provide names of a few organisms to research if students were unable to fill their table.

7. When students have completed their data table, watch the two videos about agricultural pests. The first video shows how plants can defend themselves and which pests might affect the plants. As students watch each video, have them record the names of the different pests. The Amazing Way Plants Defend Themselves

8. Next, watch Do We Really Need Pesticides?

9. After students have viewed both videos, discuss the various pests shown in the video. If pictures of fungal and bacterial pests were not used at the beginning of this activity, look at some pictures of the effects of these organisms. Most of them are microscopic and cannot be directly observed-what we observe are the effects of the organism living in or on the plant.

10. Have students review their notes and worksheet to creat a final working definition of an "agricultural pest." The definition should be simiar to: An organism living and growing where it is not wanted and can cause damage to crops that are grown for food.

Summary:
We rely on crops grown on farms to supply us with the food we need to sustain a healthy life. To ensure that these crops are grown successfully, farmers must manage the pests that feed on or harm the crops. There are several methods of pest control in farming; the use of pesticides is one method that farmers use to to control pests. There is a wide variety of pesticides and each type targets a certain type of pest. Insecticides target insects; fungicides target fungi; and herbicides target weeds. In addition to pesticides, there are many other methods farmers use to control pests.
Optional Extension Activities:

Author

FDA Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition

Organization

FDA Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition

Sources

Lessons Associated with this Resource

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Debra Spielmaker, Administrator and Yasuko Mitsuoka Grow, Designer

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Agricultural Literacy Curriculum Matrix Agricultural Pests The crops we eat are constantly at risk of harm from pests. But what are these pests? In this activity, students will develop a definition of an agricultural pest that is meaningful to them and identify categories of pests such as insects, rodents, mollusks, weeds, and diseases.

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https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/bioblitz+guide

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If your bioblitz site has no service, organize a post-bioblitz gathering at a venue that does, like a nearby cafe. Otherwise, be sure to remind observers to upload when they get home. Uploading from the app is straightforward. But photos from cameras need to be first uploaded to a computer and then added to iNaturalist as observations.