Alabama is blessed with incredible biodiversity—amongst the highest in the nation. There are more species of crayfish, freshwater fishes, mussels, freshwater snails, and turtles within Alabama’s borders than anywhere else in the country. The tree diversity is also spectacular. This has led some to refer to Alabama as ‘America’s Amazon.’ Unfortunately, there is also a high number of endangered species and a high rate of extinction. With these facts in mind, the increased need for documenting biodiversity around the state is more clear.

Citizen science can be defined as public participation in research. It’s a common misconception that only those with advanced degrees can help make meaningful contributions to science – in this case biology and conservation. In reality, most anyone can help collect valuable data to further knowledge of biodiversity. Everyone is welcome. Also, it isn’t just observations of rare species that are valuable. The world is changing rapidly and a biodiversity baseline must be established. Down the road, assessments and decisions can be made based on this data to determine what to do about it.

Getting Started

From opening kickoff weekend through the weekend of the Iron Bowl, everyone has the opportunity to participate by submitting observations of wild plants, animals, and fungi to one of two projects on iNaturalist. iNaturalist is an online platform that crowdsources biodiversity observations and identifications. Starting off is as simple as going to www.inaturalist.org and signing up for a free account. There’s never any charge to participate.

iNaturalist is available as a mobile app and through a web browser. Whichever the preference, join the Marble Bowl Project to keep up with the current scores. You may join either the “Marble Bowl 2024 – Auburn University” or “Marble Bowl 2024 – University of Alabama” project to ensure your observations count and you’re contributing to the fun. Be sure to only join one of the two projects. Otherwise, your observations will cancel each other out.

Making an observation is as simple as taking a photo of a wild organism with your phone. Because phone photographs are automatically timestamped and geotagged, all the necessary information is already with the photograph. If you prefer to take photos with a digital camera, note the location and include it with your observation if the camera doesn’t geotag it for you. Of course, observations can be uploaded to iNaturalist through a browser, as well.

As you submit observations, the platform’s artificial intelligence will suggest an identification based off what is in the photo along with similar species that have already been observed nearby. You can suggest a different ID if you’re confident about what you saw. Select an identification then hit submit. That’s all that is required to add an observation. Any iNaturalist user can then view your observations and either agree with the identification you selected or suggest a different one. More information on recording observations and the iNaturalist platform in general can be found on the observations page.

Need more information on how to use iNaturalist? Check out the iNaturalist Video Tutorials Page.

Rules

Like any good competition, there are some rules to make sure it is fun and fair for all involved. The rules are as follows:

• The Winner – The winner will be determined by total number of unique observations (50%), and unique species (50%) as calculated by iNaturalist. Observations must occur in Alabama and can only be made from opening kickoff weekend through the weekend of the Iron Bowl.
• Location – Observations must occur within the state of Alabama.
• Date and Time – Observations must occur between kickoff weekend (Midnight Saturday, August 31) and the end of Iron Bowl weekend (11:59 p.m. Sunday, December 1). No photographs taken before this time can be used.
• No Captive/Cultivated Observations – As much as people may love their pets, they aren’t suitable subjects for iNaturalist observations. The goal of this project is to record observations of wild plants, animals, fungi and other organisms across the state. Pets–along with other domesticated animals like horses, chickens and goats–should not be added to the project. Observations of cultivated plants are not allowed either. That means if something was purposely planted and particularly if it’s in a residential or commercial landscape, it shouldn’t be included as an observation. Plants that have escaped cultivation, however, are fine to include. Also, plants growing wild on the lawn, i.e. “weeds,” are good observations, too.
• Quality Grade – To be counted in the competition, observations must meet the criteria for Research Grade or Needs ID. Read more about those classifications on the iNaturalist website.

Get involved and help bring this great rivalry to the realm of citizen science. While observations can be made anywhere across Alabama, you don’t need to be at the top of Mount Cheaha or deep inside the Mobile-Tensaw Delta to participate. There’s a good chance you can make worthwhile observations from your favorite tailgate spot or in your backyard during halftime. So get outside—and may the best team win!