22 de agosto de 2021

Using iNaturalist Observations to Observe Acidic Soils Around the Globe

Several months ago, I thought it would be entertaining to use iNaturalist observations for an experiment. I wanted to devise a project based on plants that preferred to live in acidic soils. I went on the USDA Plant Database (https://plants.usda.gov/home) and searched for species that can tolerate conditions with a pH level of 6 and below. I then created a project (https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/organisms-which-prefer-ph-levels-between-0-6) based on these species. The map itself generally follows acidic soil trends throughout the globe. The BONAP (The Biota of North American Program) map (http://www.bonap.org/2008_Soil/SoilTypesRelatedMaps.html) of acidic soils around the United States reflects the trends seen in the observations except around Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Illinois. I am unsure of why this is so far. In Europe, it also follows a clear trend. Although, I think I am missing some European species. Spain and Eastern Europe show this trend well. Some sources of error in the project are a scarcity of observations in some regions, human interference, GPS coordinate, human error, etc. It is astonishing to see how you can use iNaturalist to observe trends like these.

Posted on 22 de agosto de 2021, 10:31 PM by grazing grazing | 0 comentários | Deixar um comentário

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