Task 9

iRecord activity

This task encourages the use of iRecord (Biological Records Centre, 2024) to record species. 

iRecord is used to record species, with these records being sent to volunteers at relevant recording schemes to verify/check them. 

The iRecord app is easy to use and allows you to record information on sightings, including abundance and images. By having location services turned on it will automatically tag the record with the location for submission. The suggested ID feature from photos is useful as well.

Prior to the Taxonomy and Identification course I have sporadically used iRecord a few times, although not always with photos. I have also used the iRecord Butterflies app, which feeds data to the same place but only allows you to view the lepidoptera records you make using that app. The web portal provides a number of features that are not available in the app (which is really mainly for submitting records), such as being able to view results on a map, look at stats about records or download records as a .csv file.

I have been using iRecord for specimens found for the Plant Scavenger Hunt, as well as for Taxonomic Collections for this course.

Overview and app

The web portal allows you to explore the records you have submitted, with various filters or categories that you can set. You can also view a map of your records, mine are shown in the screenshot below. It is also possible to view other records submitted - which may aid in identification, or find particular species (distribution).

Explore records

The web portal provides a more complete view of the submitted record, where you can see if it has been accepted along with any comments made by the verifier, one of mine is shown below.

Record details

The web portal also shows summary statistics of the records that have been submitted. My current stats shown here (as of 15th May 2024), I hope to increase this a lot!

Data summary

Reflection

This is a great app that provides recording schemes with more data on species sightings. The auto-id function should be used with an awareness of its limitations (it won't get everything correct), and you should try and put correct and complete information in at all times. I look forward to using this app more in the future to contribute my sightings.

References

Biological Records Centre (2024) iRecord. Available at: https://irecord.org.uk/ (Accessed: 14 May 2024).