Illinois Botanists Big Year 2019 Results!

And the winner is...
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oof, it's close! Our top two competitors by number of plant species observed in Illinois in a single year are:

Derek Ziomber (@dziomber) with 1,149 species

and

Jared Gorrell (@wildlandblogger) with 1,136 species

As of 26 January 2020, @dziomber had 1,672 "research grade" (RG) observations of 1,149 species and @wildlandblogger had made 4,202 RG observations of 1,136 plant species for 2019. Congrats to you both! This year was a close race between our top two botanists and a bit nerve-wracking near the end as the species list just kept growing and growing! The data on iNaturalist are continually changing as new IDs come in, so these are just a snapshot. They each have over 100 more species that just didn't get confirmed.

Here they are in southern Illinois: Jared Gorrell (@wildlandblogger) on the left and Derek Ziomber (@dziomber) on the right. Thanks to Jeff Skrentny (@skrentnyjeff) for the photo. A phenomenal job by these two botanizers, both of whom broke 1000 research grade plant species for the first time in Illinois Botanists Big Year history, and who were actually numbers #13 and #14 by number of RG plant species observed worldwide. And that's compared to people who live in mega biodiversity hotspots like South Africa and southern California.

2019 Illinois Botanists Big Year Stats

4,040 observers
58,000 research grade observations of plants
1,930 species
1,470 identifiers

Most Species

1. @dziomber – 1,149
2. @wildlandblogger – 1,136
3. @sanguinaria33 – 881
4. @sedge – 817
5. @elfaulkner – 769
6. @johnhboldt – 758
7. @skrentnyjeff – 711
8. @bouteloua – 527
9. @kkucera – 489
10. @missgreen – 372

Most Observations

1. @wildlandblogger – 4,202
2. @johnhboldt – 3,626
3. @dziomber – 1,672
4. @sanguinaria33 – 1,583
5. @sedge – 1,416
6. @bouteloua – 1,416
7. @skrentnyjeff – 1,304
8. @elfaulkner – 1,191
9. @taco2000 – 1,044
10. @kkucera – 878

The Sedgehead

Most species in the genus Carex:
@dziomber with 63 species and @sedge close behind with 62!

The Grassmaster

Most species within the family Poaceae:
@dziomber with 77 species!

The Sporophyte

Most species outside of flowering plants, Magnoliophyta):
@wildlandblogger with 71 species!

The 100 Club:

botanizers who made research grade observations of over 100 species of plants in Illinois in 2019: @andrewhipp @andrewstpaul @bouteloua @brdnrdr @brendanrattin @carolt-80 @conniecowan @d_coulter @dziomber @eattaway92 @elfaulkner @eriko @ewarden @geodude365 @grantfessler @ja5 @jackassgardener @jakeskee @jawinget @jenhugstrees @joelmc @johnhboldt @k2018lena @kennedy9094 @kkucera @matt167 @maureenclare @missgreen @mn2010 @naturalist_glenn @outdoorsie @owenkathriner @plantdruid @prairiehobbit @psweet @randyshonkwiler @redadmiral98 @rgraveolens @rin_nd @rtriveline @sanguinaria33 @sedge @skrentnyjeff @ssinn @stocksdale @taco2000 @tararat @timfelinski0251 @ty-sharrow @vvoelker @whimbrelbirder @wildernessbarbie @wildlandblogger @woodridgejeff

Most IDs

Most identifications for other people (Needs ID & Research Grade observations of plants in Illinois in 2019):
@mcaple with 9,040 IDs!
Followed up by @evan8 (8,317) and @wildlandblogger (7,325).

Most Improving IDs

That is the number of times they were first-to-ID a species that the community subsequently agreed with: @mcaple again with 2,293!
Followed up by @bouteloua (902) and @prairiehobbit (783).

Species New to Illinois on iNat

Dozens of species new to iNat in Illinois this year. A few listed below:

Non-flowering plants
Monocots excluding Poales
Poales (grasses, sedges, rushes, & friends)
Plants in Asterales (sunflower family and friends)
Plants in Fabales (pea family and friends)
Plants in Lamiales (mint family and friends)
Plants in Rosales (rose family and friends)
Plants in Brassicales (mustard family and friends)
Plants in Ranunculales (buttercup family and friends)
Plants in Caryophyllales (pink family and friends)
Plants in Boraginales (borage family and friends)
Plants in Malpighiales (nance family and friends)
Plants in Fagales (beech family and friends)
All other (eu)dicots except the groups above

Nice Photos

Just three of my favorite photos from the year.
I posted lots more photos on our Facebook group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/illinoisbotanistsbigyear/

Collinsia verna by @jsatler in Jackson County: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/24966638

Floerkea proserpinacoides by @kkucera in Cook County: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/25226265

Symphyotrichum novae-angliae by @musicmanz in McHenry County: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/33300530

Awards Ceremony

If you caught this post before 2PM on Sunday, January 26th and are in the Chicago area, join us to congratulate our top botanizers at the Illinois Native Plant Society gathering this afternoon. Details here: http://ill-inps.org/northeast-chapter/events/

and finally...

Don't forget to join the 2020 project:

https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/illinois-botanists-big-year-2020
(click the Join button in the top right)

Thanks to all for sharing your plant explorations this year!
Happy botanizing in 2020!

—@bouteloua (cassi saari)

Posted on Ιανουάριος 26, 2020 0325 ΜΜ by