Guatemala Recap

Well, it took me a little over a month, but I've finally edited and uploaded the last of my images from our Guatemala journey in early January. Here's the whole set:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=6940&user_id=gcwarbler&verifiable=any
These are the product of sorting through about 1700 photos to compile just under 500 observations. By iNat's calculation, the effort documented about 343 species of plants and animals, but I'm not sure how that total is calculated for my Observations page. There is still a fairly large set of my observations left at genus, subfamily, family, or higher levels of classification. In many cases, of course, some plants and animals won't be ID-able better than genus or so, but that still leaves a lot that I haven't pinned down. If anyone has a desire to delve into those groups needing more work, here are some subsets of my observations that could use some help:

Flowering plants IDed no lower than tribe (currently 17 observations):
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?hrank=kingdom&lrank=tribe&place_id=6940&taxon_id=47125&user_id=gcwarbler&verifiable=any

Insects with an ID no finer than tribe (about 84 observations; mostly moths, see next):
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?hrank=kingdom&lrank=tribe&place_id=6940&taxon_id=47158&user_id=gcwarbler&verifiable=any

Moths IDed no finer than tribe (about 53 observations):
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?hrank=kingdom&lrank=tribe&place_id=6940&taxon_id=47157&user_id=gcwarbler&verifiable=any

For a country with such incredibly rich biological diversity, Guatemala is in dire need of additional attention to document this diversity. My meager efforts on a 12-day visit now place me among the top dozen in observations and species out of some 3,000 iNat observers in Guatemala (local and visitors). To date, this most populous country of seven Central American nations has the 2nd lowest iNaturalist observer density (in terms of both population and area), 2nd lowest number of observations per 1000 sq. km. and the lowest number of observations per iNaturalist observer. There are obviously some difficult and complex socio-economic issues behind such numbers and I am in no position to analyze this further. That said, I have been encouraged by some of my Guatemalan friends to solicit further attention to this biological wonderland. I am certain I will be making a return visit to Guatemala in the not-too-distant future.

Posted on February 18, 2022 03:21 PM by gcwarbler