#inat — Public Fediverse posts

This tiny person is a bit soggy- I was watering some recently sown peas with bucket and scoop, and this one found its way into the bucket! I gently poured it out on the mulch, where it moved around a little before finding a grass stem it liked and staying there for a few minutes to dry- then it was gone! full set of pics on #iNat
#insects #inverts #MacroMonday #Alberta #Canada #photography #bees #pollinators #nature

This tiny person is a bit soggy- I was watering some recently sown peas with bucket and scoop, and this one found its way into the bucket! I gently poured it out on the mulch, where it moved around a little before finding a grass stem it liked and staying there for a few minutes to dry- then it was gone! full set of pics on #iNat
#insects #inverts #MacroMonday #Alberta #Canada #photography #bees #pollinators #nature

wenn ihr meine ganzen anderern #krabbeltierchen auch noch sehen wollt, dann guckt dort:

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=any&user_id=b-age&verifiable=any

hierher hol ich immer nur die schönsten bilder, die coolsten krabbler und die weirdesten funde. dort sind auch die, wo die bilder gerade so zum bestimmen reichen. oder auch nicht.

#iNat

wenn ihr meine ganzen anderern #krabbeltierchen auch noch sehen wollt, dann guckt dort:

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=any&user_id=b-age&verifiable=any

hierher hol ich immer nur die schönsten bilder, die coolsten krabbler und die weirdesten funde. dort sind auch die, wo die bilder gerade so zum bestimmen reichen. oder auch nicht.

#iNat

A modest start to the season- almost the first 'bug' photos of the year! (I did get a couple of poor shots of a single honey bee around my woodcutting tarps a few weeks ago-- long before anything was in flower- still nothing, catkins soon! there've been tiny moths and flies, but no pics I think).
A leafhopper-fascinating that there are always leafhoppers before there are any leaves! and a super tiny beetle.
#insects #spring #iNat #InvertBeauty #Alberta #Canada #GetOutside #nature

A modest start to the season- almost the first 'bug' photos of the year! (I did get a couple of poor shots of a single honey bee around my woodcutting tarps a few weeks ago-- long before anything was in flower- still nothing, catkins soon! there've been tiny moths and flies, but no pics I think).
A leafhopper-fascinating that there are always leafhoppers before there are any leaves! and a super tiny beetle.
#insects #spring #iNat #InvertBeauty #Alberta #Canada #GetOutside #nature

A long overdue #Introduction.

I take #CreativeCommons photographs (Mostly of #Nature) which I contribute to #WikimediaCommons and when appropriate also to #iNaturalist. I've uploaded over 20,000 photos to #Wikimedia and over 12,000 observations to #iNat (of more than 3,000 species).

I only post my own photos on this account (all of which are #CCBYSA) and make occasional posts about Wikimedia and iNat.

#Photographer #Photography #CitizenScience #Vegan #Neurodivergent #Naturalist

A long overdue #Introduction.

I take #CreativeCommons photographs (Mostly of #Nature) which I contribute to #WikimediaCommons and when appropriate also to #iNaturalist. I've uploaded over 20,000 photos to #Wikimedia and over 12,000 observations to #iNat (of more than 3,000 species).

I only post my own photos on this account (all of which are #CCBYSA) and make occasional posts about Wikimedia and iNat.

#Photographer #Photography #CitizenScience #Vegan #Neurodivergent #Naturalist

:boost_requested: A web & ap suggestion to help you get off of iNaturalist - especially for Europeans and some Caribbean nations! (Read my pinned post to learn about why, as a scientist who used to love it, I now recommend leaving iNat.) https://observation.org/

Observation.org is a site older than iNaturalist, with the same basic concept, but some huge key differences. Like iNat, they use traditional computer learning to create a database to help identify creatures from photos; sadly that feature is only available for Europe and a few other countries. However, anyone anywhere can contribute! Observations that are confirmed are pushed to GBIF, a database that scientists use, similar to how "research grade" on iNat is pushed to GBIF.

How does an observation become verified? Well, volunteer experts (both academia and community experts alike) are tasked with this validation. This is a bit different than iNat, which is built on "anyone can confirm an ID". Validation is thus slower, however, can be argued to be more accurate as someone cannot just go through and auto-agree with a computer-suggested ID without actual human knowledge validation, which happens a lot on iNat. I have some colleagues in Europe who when they use GBIF they actually don't even bother with iNat and filter out those observations. Can you volunteer as an expert? Certainly! There is an application process.

You own all your own data on observation.org - You retain all intellectual property rights to your media, and you have full control over how your data is shared and the licensing of your media files. This includes deleting your data whenever you wish. You can find more information on this here: https://observation.org/tos/

I emailed and asked specifically about their current and future AI use plans, especially regarding things like GenAI. They clearly understood the differences and harms, and to quote a part of the reply, "We currently have no plans to incorporate LLMs or generative AI. Our focus is on using and developing AI to assist with species identification, and we do this in close collaboration with scientific institutions such as Naturalis Biodiversity Centre. We always adhere to EU law and directives."

I have been using it a bit, and I find it lacks a lot of our cave invertebrates but it is much more European focused. This is going to be a downside for many, but the good news is that you can get species added - there is a process for that. And, most of our critters and plants and such do seem to be in it. Either way, even my rare findings are able to still be pushed to GBIF in this manner, it's just slower is all.

If you want the gamification and fast pace of iNat, you won't like observation.org.

If you thirst for careful identification, sharpening your skills outside of using computer assist, and still being able to contribute to GBIF, and knowing that the site will not be enshittified...well you will probably enjoy it! My guess is it did not take off because it is 'Less Accessible' due to limited ID help and slower confirmation and feedback. But, I think the people sick and tired of iNat will be the kind of people who enjoy Observation.org!

#iNat #iNaturalist #science #nature #community #communityScience #butterfly #bloomscrolling #hope #future #naturalist #biology #ecology #enshittification #climate #DivestDecember

More guidebook suggestions to help you get off of iNaturalist (Read my pinned post to learn about why, as a scientist who used to love it, I now recommend leaving iNat.)

Butterflies! So charismatic, aren't they? Luckily they are pretty easy to ID without any prior knowledge or learning much about scientific terms. If you are like me, you may have troubles translating drawings of animals in the guidebooks to how to tell what you took a photo of. This is why I really like the Swift guide for butterflies because it does a wonderful job with full color photos, and lines pointing to exactly what to look at for similar species. The way it is laid out makes it pretty easy to find where you need to be within the guidebook as well. Extremely beginner-friendly!

Bookshop.org is a good site to buy from to not support billionaires as you can select a local bookshop to support with your purchase, here are some links:
North America: https://bookshop.org/p/books/a-swift-guide-to-butterflies-of-north-america-second-edition-president-jeffrey-glassberg
Mexico & Central America: https://bookshop.org/p/books/a-swift-guide-to-butterflies-of-mexico-and-central-america-second-edition-president-jeffrey-glassberg/

#butterfly #nature #tips #guide #guides #noAI #iNat #iNaturalist #science #community #communityScience #flower #bloomscrolling #purple #macro #macroPhotography #DivestDecember

iNaturalist Enshittification Update:

So you know the Q&A they promised to host about their Generative AI project back on (checks notes) June 11, 2025? Well it is finally scheduled! I got the email for it (because it was a form sign up, unlinked to iNat account, yes my iNat account is deleted).

They managed to *completely* avoid using the term "AI" in the entire email. They announced it as, "Register now: Scaling Identification Expertise webinar". They are desperately trying to rebrand this, do not fall for it. (Update: they finally had to in the webinar, they confirmed they are using Gemini but only in the chat window, never spoken about so it might not even been recorded? https://scicomm.xyz/@astrodisastro/115656803556190100 and https://biodiversity.social/@ClimateJenny/115656989250805843)

Furthermore, the webinar is tomorrow, and it's not a Q&A, and it sounds like the demo is ready to go. I have friends still on iNat and it sounds like there is no notice of Generative AI scraping comments, or opting in (or out of) such projects. This leads me to think that they are just going to scrape the entire site, considering their refusal over the past SIX MONTHS to even promise us this much - that our content won't be scrapped without our opting in to the program. Considering this, I wonder if your stuff is being scrapped as I write this, if you still use iNat (conjecture, yes, but a very real and legitimate one).

I also love how they cherrypicked two users who are full on board with GenAI as their "user experts".

I am laughing at their attempts to reframe this, because they *know* they had to lock the blog posts about this because hundreds of users were overruning it with their dismay. They *know* GenAI is not liked in the iNaturalist community at large.

I hereby announce that instead of my usual Karstmas postings for December, I will be instead posting things for #DivestDecember and encourage other people to join me in creating this hashtag! What is it for? Anything that helps people move away from harmful companies, corporations, AI, GenAI, and whatever other monopolistic and/or silicon valley type stuff you can think of!

My own posts will be focused on other ways to improve your identification skills and naturalist skills. I won't be able to post every day, but hopefully you can at least follow that hashtag for tips. It is also my hope that it will take off and others with their own areas of expertise can share their knowledge of how to get away from these harmful systems, or at least, decrease our use of them. Some examples:
- How to install / use LibreOffice
- Which grocery stores are employee-owned
- Amazon alternatives
- Writing help without relying on chatGTP for those who struggle with grammar
And anything else you can think of! It is my vision that this hashtag will be either simple and easy tips, or, well-written step by step foolproof as many things I see are written assuming lots of prior knowledge of the topic.
Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to write in an accessible way.

#iNat #AI #GenAI #enshittification #nature #science #iNaturalist #naturalist #biology #ecology

I will write a coherent post later today on the enshittification of iNaturalist but right now I feel too much like this goose. :0_goose: :honk:

:goose_honk: They managed to send an entire email about deploying GenAI on the site without *once* mentioning AI or GenAI or Google that funded this.

(How did I get this without an iNat account since I deleted mine? Because this is the webinar invite that I signed up for *back in JUNE* which used a form and is not connected to having an iNat account)

#enshittification #iNat #iNaturalist #genAI #AI

https://www.inaturalist.org/stats/2025

#iNaturalist #iNat #CitizenScience

https://www.inaturalist.org/stats/2025

#iNaturalist #iNat #CitizenScience

He wasn’t too perturbed but slowly ambled away

#spiders #aracnid #iNat

Well, today’s mental health hike was one for the books. I almost trod on a desert tarantula!

This is my first time seeing a wild tarantula, and I never expected to see one in northern California!

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/320227471

#spiders
#aracnid #iNat

Edit Oct 11: It has been a month since I made this post. Still radio silence. I suspect I will be soon deleting my account as promised. I cannot in good conscious remain a part of an organization dead set on enshittifying. I have almost 30,000 ID's on there, over 26,000 for others. Someone noticed my work in the Stereum genus, that almost all were fixed. Yup, that was me last year. Because iNaturalist only has one delete method (all or nothing) there is no way for me to leave ghosted ID's in place. This is a shame, but it is not my fault. GBIF will survive, science will survive. What they cannot survive is enshittification.

_____________Original Sept 11 post below:

As my questions remained unanswered, I have posted my final and formal complaint to iNaturalist using the only format they allow us to use: their forum: https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/what-is-this-inaturalist-and-generative-ai/66140/905

Text of the post:

I attended the Ambassador program talk as I could for certain easily be an iNaturalist Ambassador, but I still have looming questions and concerns surrounding the addition of GenAI to iNaturalist.

The thing I found most interesting is that a core iNaturalist’s Mission and Value in the Code of Conduct is
"Emphasize that iNaturalist data should be accurate and relevant since it is used for science"

We have already shown in this thread how GenAI gets ID information wrong, how it falsely attributes statements to users who did not say what it says they said, and more. Using GenAI to create ID tips will create falsehoods, and thus, goes against the supposed iNaturalist Code of Conduct.

In addition, OpenAI just released their own research which confirms our statements that these “Hallucinations” are actually a structural property inherent to these machines.

Thus, according to iNaturalist’s own stated ethics in their own Code of Conduct, as a future ambassador looking to maintain the scientific integrity of iNaturalist in alliance with their Code of Conduct, I am hereby requesting that iNaturalist immediately cease and desist all use of GenAI and do not now or ever deploy it on any of their products, programs, sites, aps, or architecture.

I look forward to your formal and publicly announced and posted reply as to the status of your GenAI project.

#AI #GenAI #iNaturalist #iNat #Nature #biology #Ecocology #enshittification #LLM

I dont have a printer, so I drew my own bit to add to my iNaturalist shirt Ive had for years to wear today to the q&a for a new Ambassador program.

We have been waiting three months for a q&a promised to use about adding GenAI to the site. Still not gotten that promised on, but got this invite to a q&a about becoming an ambassador.

Most users do not want genAI, in fact their blog announcement got so many comments they closed commenting. iNat staff have been obtuse and say they have no plans yet to share about the project so our promised q&a is pointless. But they want a working prototype by the end of the year.

We still do not have guarantee that it will be opt in only, we do not have any transparency for the project as to how it will scrape our data and be traceable, we showed how even using genAI for summarizing the comments about it attributed falsehoods to people who never said what the summary claimed, we showed how it hallucinated ID tips which is what they want to use it to generate…and now, openAI actually admits in their own paper that hallucinations are just a part of genAI, showing this will enshittify the most widely used community science platform.

If you got the invite for the meeting in 40 minutes (noon EST) I ask that you please hop on the meeting and ask these questions and push for them to drop this inane project.

In the end: How can we be an ambassador for GenAI with any good conscious?

@pluralistic still would love to see you do a writeup on this to publicize the issues. I am just a field biologist. I don’t have reach. I don’t have electronic expertise. You do. Most people don’t know this is even happening because it is being shoved under proverbial rugs.

#ai #google #genAI #enshittify #enshittification #iNat #iNaturalist #naturalist #nature

Another ID tip from a Real Human!

This is Violet Toothed Polypore, aka Trichaptum biforme. It grows on hardwood, and despite it's name it only has vibrant purple edges when fresh, and usually during more moist times of year, so don't discount this ID if it doesn't have the violet! Older specimens may have a green look almost like they have moss growing on them, and the edge will be light. Sometimes they are almost fully white/beige in color especially as they dry out. The underside will have pores.

When taking photos of mushrooms for ID, it is a good idea to take photos of the whole area, and then some closeups of the top, bottom, and any stem/stipe. Noting the tree (if on a tree) species is important if you can as well, as some are buddies :) For example, this was a Red Oak, so a hardwood. But, if it were a Conifer, it would be a very similar looking but different Trichaptum species! Fungi are like humans, super diverse in their varieties and genders : )

:boost_ok: And in ongoing iNat saga...
Zero response to any requests for an official statement that having our stuff fed to Google GenAI will be opt-in only. But the staff member Tony did manage to pop in to answer a question about when the live Q&A that many of us signed up for two months ago will be! He said and I quote: "We still plan to have one when we have something concrete to share and we’ll be in touch when a date and time have been determined."
(Source: https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/what-is-this-inaturalist-and-generative-ai/66140/890 )

I am just...sad-angry laughing over here.

#iNat #iNaturalist #genAI #AI #google #tech

#iNat #iNaturalist #biology #mosstodon #ecology
#nature #IDTips #ActuallyAScientist #fungiFriday

:boost_ok: I was gone for a few days and it seems the genAI and iNaturalist thread on the iNaturalist forum has...wow! I appreciate everyone who is making their thoughts about this project known, even though the iNaturalist staff is continually flagging to hide the comments you are leaving.

In the interest of fostering actual community who enjoys nature and learning what things are, here is one of the common tips I would leave for a cool lichen in this region that the computer vision almost always got wrong, so new people to the site were continually getting the wrong suggestion. A wonderful example of how even well trained models* get things wrong...and now they want to add genAI created ID tips? Ha! Instead, have a *real* ID tip from a *real* human scientist for this type of lichen!

"Despite the fact that iNaturalist suggested it to you, Usnea hirta doesn't occur in the Southeast US. This would need dissection and chemical tests to identify between the Usnea species that do occur here."

Did you like this post? If so I will do some more Actually A Scientist ID Tips!
____
*For those not aware, iNaturalist uses a trained "Computer Vision" model which is, I would argue, a good use of AI. Specific verified images of species are used to train the model so it can offer suggestions. The images used are cited for each taxon, so it is totally traceable, credits people, and follows the photo's usage rules that the person set for the image. This is much more accessible to many than expensive guidebooks or keys with jargon people don't know. However, it used to always be stated that this is a suggestion, and any ID you place should be from your own ability and not blindly trusting the model. Curiously, in the latest releases it is no longer Computer Vision, it is just being called "AI".

#iNat #iNaturalist #biology #lichen #mosstodon #ecology #nature #IDTips #ActuallyAScientist #LichenSubscribe

It fascinates me how #mushrooms change over a few days- I mean plants change a lot too from seed/spore to maturity, but not usually as fast + I guess I'm more familiar with the stages!
This is probably a Shaggy Parasol / Chlorophyllum sp. growing by the path in front of the old trailer, under a large spruce, with descendants of Campanula rapunculoides +Aquilegia hyb my aunt planted long ago. Pics from July 31 then Aug 01 last today #MushroomMonday #Alberta #Canada #iNat #nature #GetOutside

It fascinates me how #mushrooms change over a few days- I mean plants change a lot too from seed/spore to maturity, but not usually as fast + I guess I'm more familiar with the stages!
This is probably a Shaggy Parasol / Chlorophyllum sp. growing by the path in front of the old trailer, under a large spruce, with descendants of Campanula rapunculoides +Aquilegia hyb my aunt planted long ago. Pics from July 31 then Aug 01 last today #MushroomMonday #Alberta #Canada #iNat #nature #GetOutside

:boost_ok: Update 3: Just a little bit of data.

I checked the stats page, and found this interesting. In early June we were at 488k active users on iNaturalist. Now, it is only 401K. The major dropoff cliff that has slowly waned further since, happened corresponding to the announcement of using Google GenAI.

I dunno about you, but an almost 20% reduction of users - and mind you these would be active engaged users as you’d have to be to notice the blog post or forum - should be seen as a crisis. Yet, we are going into week 7 with no word on just some very simple requests:
1) When will they start feeding comments into the demo machine they want to release by year's end
2) An official statement that it will be opt-in only

Yeah, we are *so unreasonable* - literally that is the bare minimum. They shouldn't even being doing genAI at all, but those 2 things are the bare minimum and they won't even do that. And we keep being told we are over-acting and it won't have that much negative effect. Ya already bled almost 20% of active users....but sure it's all fine.

#iNat #iNaturalist #genAI #AI #noAI

:boost_ok: iNat update 2: I decided to stir the pot a little. There's a lot of "just simmer down and give them time" going on...'cause I guess six weeks of silence isn't enough. There's also a lot of "this is just repetitive" because of course we all still have the same questions because it's been six weeks with no answers.

So here is a fresh thought: I don’t know how grants you all write work, but the ones I write (not just scientific ones, but also for NPOs of various kinds) require a lot of detail about the project, from budget to methods and more…so there is “a plan” somewhere, there had to be, for the grant to even be written in the first place, long before it was selected and awarded and then announced in early June.

I would be really curious to read the original grant proposal. :blobcatcoffee: (emoji of a cat sipping from a mug of coffee or tea)

#iNat #iNaturalist #science #accountability #AI #genAI #google

On a hike today we found a snake on our path. It started buzzing at us from under a bush. Later we learned that snakes don't buzz.
I had assumed a rattler would be more maraca-like.
Here is a 6 second video of the buzzing sound.
Unfortunately we didn't get any pics of the snake.
#nature #snake #rattleSnake #bc #Canada #iNat

I signed up on #iNaturalist about 5 years ago and did a few postings/observations. Then, more recently I spoke with enough biologists who said they used the data and it was quite important and encouraged me to contribute to it, especially since I go to out-of-the-way places a lot (look at my observations map).

But, first, I took the time to read through their data/surveillance policy and, while I assumed bots would be *nonconsensually* scraping the data, contributing seemed useful enough to science that I could hold my nose and accept that. But direct, unmediated collaboration with Google and AI-anything is off the table for me.

Bummer, really.

#iNaturalist #iNat #enshittification #FuckAI #KillItWithFire

Blitz the Gap! Challenges for Canadian #inaturalist users designed by biology graduate students to fill in the data gaps. Priorities are practically anywhere away from major population centres and transportation arteries. https://pollocklab.github.io/blitz-the-gap/ #Canada #iNat

About Serbian 'inat':

https://theculturetrip.com/europe/serbia/articles/the-weird-world-of-inat-like-hygge-but-serbian

#Serbia #inat