Biodiversity

From top left to bottom right: Monarch (G.Kelly); Western Pygmy Blue; Bullock’s Oriole (G. Kelly); Orange Skipperling; Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher; Rough-Legged Hawk; Eastern Collared Lizard (L. Zappia); Reakirt’s Blue; Painted Bunting (T. Fitzgerald); Western Meadowlark (G. Kelly); North American Porcupine (R. Kostecke); Western Bluebird (C. Seaquist); Mule Deer (E. Hildebrandt); Texas Horned Lizard (L. Zappia); American Basket Flower (J.D. Manthey); Queen (C. Seaquist); Western Spotted Orbweaver (E. Hildebrandt); American Avocet (C. Seaquist); White-Lined Sphinx (L. Zappia); Burrowing Owls (L. Zappia); Black-Tailed Prairie Dogs (J.D. Manthey); European Carp; Large-Mouth Bass (T. Fitzgerald); Plains Leopard Frog (G. Kelly); Bullsnake (N. Taylor); Rocky Mountain Zinnia (L. Zappia); and Missouri Foxtail Cactus (B. Keith).

The counties covered by the South Plains Chapter encompass an amazing fauna and flora biodiversity, which is not yet well documented. There are significant taxonomic and geographic data gaps in our region. As a Master Naturalist volunteer you can actively contribute to the inventory of species compiled in the citizen science project and online social network that is iNaturalist. Take a picture, crop it, and post it on iNaturalist and you will add visual/audio information to the database and learn to identify what you have observed with the help of a worldwide community of scholars and amateur naturalists. iNaturalist has excellent tutorials to get you started.

Many species have already been observed in our region.

There is still a lot to do to cover our region and the following links will provide you with some sense of what has been observed in the various counties.