Good Good Good · Climate & nature

Citizen Science Tracks Wildlife Food Webs Via Photos

Who Eats Whom, a citizen science project, uses crowdsourced photos to document species interactions, aiding wildlife conservation in a changing environment.

Traditional food chain studies are slow. Who Eats Whom uses public photos from iNaturalist to identify species and their interactions, like an ermine eating a rat.

The project has data on 17,000 interactions involving 5,700 species in over 100 countries, generating valuable ecological information.

Researchers analyze photos to track current feeding patterns and changes over time, revealing ecosystem shifts due to climate change.

An interactive food web feature explores predator-prey dynamics and plant-pollinator relationships.

Surprising feeding behaviors, like vultures eating various carcasses, have been documented. The public's photos provide crucial data acquisition.

Understanding food webs is vital for conservation, especially with climate change and invasive species disrupting ecosystems.

The project shows species need relationships and food sources, not just habitat, for survival, informing conservation efforts.

AI-samenvatting op basis van de bron.