BirdPix in KwaZulu-Natal
This blog deals with progress with BirdPix, with maps showing overall species richness, species richness in the past 12 months, and the date of last record in e...
Author: Les Underhill
Prof Les Underhill was Director of the Animal Demography Unit (ADU) at the University of Cape Town from its start in 1991 until he retired. Although citizen science in biology is Les’s passion, his academic background is in mathematical statistics. He was awarded his PhD in abstract multivariate analyses in 1973 at UCT and what he likes to say about his PhD is that he solved a problem that no one has ever had. He soon grasped that this was not the field to which he wanted to devote his life, so he retrained himself as an applied statistician, solving real-world problems.
BirdPix in the five northern provinces: Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Gauteng, North West and Free State
This blog covers BirdPix progress up toApril 2020 in the five northern provinces of South Africa: Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Gauteng, North West and Free State. There...
BirdPix progress in the three “Capes”
This blog covers BirdPix the Western, Eastern and Northern Cape provinces of South Africa. For each province, it answers three questions: (1) How well is BirdP...
Crimson-speckled Footman (Utetheisa pulchella)
Utetheisa pulchella Crimson-speckled footman Crimson-speckled Footman Utetheisa pulchella is a day-flying moth. It is therefore said to be diurnal. Here is the ...
Biodiversity/Birding/BirdPix/Birds/Citizen Science/Industrial biodiversity/News/Site report/Virtual Museum
Industrial Biodiversity 2 : Black River in Paarden Eiland : novel ecosystem
This remarkable 200-m section of the Black River in Paarden Eiland is a novel ecosystem. There are many bird species breeding and feeding. It is a biodiversity ...
First draft of new generation maps for dragonflies and damselflies
The map below shows coverage for OdonataMAP. There are records for only 1,101 of the 2,014 grid cells of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland. That’s a lit...
Biodiversity/BirdPix/Citizen Science/Karoo/LepiMAP/MammalMAP/News/OdonataMAP/Site report/Trip report/Virtual Museum
The BDI visits Roam Private Game Reserve
Five years ago, the Post family bought a 5000 ha property in the Karoo which had been used for hunting, turned it into a biodiversity conservation area, and ren...
Atlas maps: choice of grid scale
Traditionally, we have used the quarter-degree grid scale to generate distribution maps in biodiversity atlases. In southern Africa, this convention started wit...
Virtual Museum: open for refreshments!
As you drive your new car out of the showroom, its value drops dramatically, and then keeps on dropping. It’s not quite as bad with the Virtual Museum. Bu...
Quarter-degree grid cells made simple
Lump it or leave it, quarter-degree grid cells are entrenched in the mapping system of South Africa. In an article called “SA Mapsheet Referencing“,...