California Desert Studies Consortium Fullerton, California
Participatory science has increased in popularity as a tool for outreach, and to support research that builds on the breadth of engaged members of the community. The iNaturalist platform uses photographs to document species occurrence records with geographical and temporal data, and is designed for broad public accessibility and engagement, and to facilitate the use of these records by scientists conducting biodiversity research. The heart of iNaturalist is the using crowdsourced photography as a tool for science. In this presentation, we describe the development and implementation of the Harvester Hunt community science project. This project is designed to recruit members of the community to document records of harvester ants (Pogonomyrmex spp.) in urbanized areas of the Los Angeles region. Whereas these ants were abundant in this area, they have been marginalized by development and displacement by invasive species, especially the Argentine ant (Linepithema humile). Because harvester ants persist at low densities throughout the highly urbanized areas, we are able to use crowdsourced photographic records in conjunction with remote sensing to evaluate the characteristics of the urban environment that allow this notable native species to persist in the face of human-driven environmental change.