Table of Contents
Conclusion - Part 1 : Short Note
About the data in this journal page
Funding and Support
Award Categories
Category 1. Most Observations - Overall
Category 2. Most Observations by Women Observers
Category 3. Beetle Mania 2023 - Most Observations
Category 4. Orchid Odyssey : Most Wild Orchid Observations
Category 5. Flora Fern-tastic 2023
Category 6. Most Observations - in any States or Union Territories that have less than 3000 observations
Category 7. Most Observations by a New Observer
Category 8 . Most Identifications - Overall
Other Award and Certificate Notes
Monsoon Beauty 23 - Updates and Highlights
India's Nature : Contact Information
Conclusion - Part 1 : Short Note
Dear Friends,
First, a big thank you to all the participants of India's Nature Monsoon Beauty 2023 . This is the third iteration of this event, and hopefully with your participation and support we can widen interest in and knowledge nature and India's bio-diversity with more talks, walks and observations.
The 58 day observation event from, 15th July to 10th September 2023, had 149 Observers and 1147 identifiers.
52741 observations were submitted by 149 observers from 2*9 states and union territories*.
Uttarakhand, Kerala, West Bengal, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, were the top 5 state wise contributors. A full list of all the represented States and Union Territories will be uploaded in a related journal.
The 1147 Identifiers **helped to identify **5539 species There are 16872 (32 %) research grade observations, while 35597 (67.5%) are at needs id, while there are quite amazingly only 298 (0.6% ) casual observations.
About the data in this journal page
The list of observers and identifiers and their individual contributions is a snapshot of the data as it stood at 00:00 a.m. on September 18, 2023. While observations and identifications will continue to be made after the event, the list of participants and their contributions is considered finalized at this time and date, and serves as a historical record of the event's data at that moment in time.
Funding and Support
India's Nature is a volunteer based citizen science initiative while Monsoon Beauty 2023 is a zero-funded event. Time resources are contributions from the participants and a few volunteers.
The awards are sponsored by Uma and S Kalyanaraman.
Some Short-term India's Nature fellowships have been supported by Dr Ghazala Shahbuddin, and Ramnarayan Kalyanaraman.
Award Categories
(For Individual Observers or Identifiers Only)
Category 1. Most Observations - Overall
The top 10 observers are ranked and listed below:
Award & Certificate Categories
There were a total of 149 observers. Of this 70 individuals made 100 or more identifications.
The following are the award and certificate categories
-
1st place award One Natural History Book, and a choice of one poster or two pamphlets, 2nd and 3rd place award choice of a poster or pamphlets to be chosen from this list of books, pamphlets and posters
-
Gold Certificate: 17 Observers
Awarded to participants who posted 15 or more observations per day.
Silver Certificate: 26 Observers
- Awarded to participants who posted from 5 to 15 observations per day.
Special Mention: 27 Observers
- Awarded to participants who posted 100 or more observations during the event.
Category 2. Most Observations by Women Observers
The top 11 women observers are ranked and listed below:
-
Note: It is possible that some eligible women observers could not be counted due to a lack of relevant information on their public profiles. While we have made efforts to contact these participants to confirm the required information, it is possible that some may have been missed. As a result, this list may be updated at a later date to reflect additional information received.
Update 26th Sept. 2023:** - Based on addtional information received we have updated this list
Awards : 1st place Award - One Natural History Book, 2nd and 3rd place award a choice of a poster or pamphlets
Category 3. Beetle Mania 2023 - Most Observations
Beetle Mania 2023 is a concurrent sub-event of Monsoon Beauty 2023
A total of 107 observers contributed 3534 beetle observations during the event, and 168 identifiers **helped to identify an impressive total of **416 beetle species.
Beetle Mania Top Observers
These contributions have helped to increase our understanding of the rich diversity of beetles found in India. We hope that this event has inspired people to learn more about these creatures and their important role in our ecosystems.
-
Awards : 1st place Award - One Natural History Book, 2nd and 3rd place award a choice of a poster or pamphlets
Awards from this list of books, pamphlets and posters*
Participation Certificates will be awarded to participants who posted 50 or more observations during the event.
Note : Detailed list is in Monsoon Beauty 23: Conclusion Part 3
-
Beetle Mania Top Identifiers
-
Award Certificates : will be awarded to participants who made 50 or more identifications during the event.
-
Note : Detailed list is in Monsoon Beauty 23: Conclusion Part 3
Category 4. Orchid Odyssey : Most Wild Orchid Observations
Orchid Odyssey 2023, a subset of Monsoon Beauty 2023, aimed to document India's diverse and beautiful orchid species. Nevertheless, the event encountered challenges due to the notoriously elusive nature of orchids, making them hard to find and identify.
A total of 101 observations came from 27 observers, leading to the identification of 25 species by 28 identifiers. While the observation count may seem limited, it underscores the challenges associated with orchid discovery and identification, especially in India's diverse ecosystems, compounded by the lack of widely available popular information about wild orchids.
Orchids are distributed across various habitats, often displaying strong habitat preferences, which results in their dense concentration in specific suitable environments.
The enigmatic character of orchids adds to their allure and underscores the significance of conservation efforts aimed at protecting these aesthetically pleasing and ecologically vital plants.
Orchid Odyssey 2023 marks the beginning of our exploration into India's orchid diversity, and we aspire to raise awareness about orchids and the imperative need to safeguard both these plants and their habitats.
Below, we list the orchid observers and identifiers. Regrettably, we are currently unable to allocate resources for awards this event.
Orchid Observations & Observers
Note : Detailed list is in Monsoon Beauty 23: Conclusion Part 3
Orchid Identifiers
Note : Detailed list is in Monsoon Beauty 23: Conclusion Part 3
Category 5. Flora Fern-tastic 2023
Flora Fern-tastic 2023: A Citizen Science Event to Celebrate Ferns
During Flora Fern-tastic 2023, a concurrent sub-event of Monsoon Beauty 2023, a total of 425 fern observations were made by 45 observers, leading to the identification of 51 species by 36 identifiers.
The number of observations may seem low, given that there are about 1,267 species of ferns in India (and over 12,000 species worldwide). However, there are a few reasons why there were so few observations during the event.
First, ferns are often overlooked due to their lack of dramatic flowering or fruiting phases, their green cryptic nature works against them . They can be difficult to identify, especially for those who are not familiar with them. And importantly, there is a severe paucity of popular information on ferns in India.
Despite these challenges, the Flora Fern-tastic 2023 event and subsequent events aim to draw attention to this remarkable group of plants and encourage a closer examination of their ancient lineage. By documenting ferns through Citizen Science Biodiversity documentation, we hope to shed light on their ecological significance and raise awareness about their importance in our natural world.
Wild Fern Observations & Observers
List of observers who posted 10 or more observations
Note : Detailed list is in Monsoon Beauty 23: Conclusion Part 4
First Place Award : One Natural History Book)
Fern Identifiers
Top 10 Fern Identifiers
Note : Detailed list is in Monsoon Beauty 23: Conclusion Part 4
Category 6. Most Observations - in any States or Union Territories that have less than 3000 observations
Category 6. Most Observations - in any States or Union Territories that have less than 3000 observations
The following Union Territories and States of have less than 3000 observations on iNaturalist.
That trend continues this year as well leaving this category bereft of any awardees indicating the need for very focused programmes to encourage biodiversity observations.
State or Union Territory |
Observations |
Species |
Identifiers |
Observers |
Top Observer |
Manipur |
147 |
84 |
14 |
1 |
@debashischowdhury (147 obs.) |
Ladakh |
18 |
14 |
4 |
1 |
@vlavlam (18 obs.) |
Mizoram |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Nagaland |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Punjab |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Tripura |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Chandigarh |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Daman and Diu |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Dadra and Nagar Haveli |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Lakshadweep |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
A detailed list of the current number of observations in these Union Territories and States in provided inin Monsoon Beauty 23: Conclusion - Part 5 - States and Union Territories*
(Award One Natural History Book)
Category 7. Most Observations by a New Observer
Engaging new users is an important aspect of Monsoon Beauty. In total about 30 new users joined the project of which 15 posted observations.
-
New User : Anyone who have joined iNaturalist after 1st June 2023 and has less than 200 observations at the start of the event.
-
Awards : 1st place Award - One Natural History Book, 2nd and 3rd place award a choice of a poster or pamphlet
Awards from this list of books, pamphlets and posters*
**Special Mention Certificates ** will be awarded to new observers who posted 50 or more observations during the event.
Category 8 . Most Identifications - Overall
On behalf of the organizers of this biodiversity event, we would like to express our gratitude to all the identifiers, who have contributed to the success of this effort through their passionate and dedicated efforts to identify the diverse web of life. Without their help, this event would not have as enriching as it has been.
The top identifiers during the event are mentioned below
There were a total of 1147 identifiers. Of this 64 individuals made 100 or more identifications. 13 are in the Gold Category, 21 are Silver Category and 30 are special mention identifiers.
As a token of our gratitude, we are pleased to award the following certificates and prizes to the participants who have made exceptional contributions.
-
1st Place - A book from this list
-
2nd and 3rd Place - One poster on Birds or a choice of two pamphlets from the same list as above
-
Gold Certificate:
Awarded to participants who average 15 or more identifications per day.
Silver Certificate:
- Awarded to participants who average 5 to 15 identifications per day.
Special Mention:
- Awarded to participants who make 100 or more identifications during the event.
The 1st place awardee will receive a book, while the second and 3rd place will receive a choice of pamphlets or posters from the list provided here. Based on available resources special awards might be given to most beetle, orchid, and fern identifiers
Other Award and Certificate Notes
Certificates of Participation or Special Mention to all qualifying observers
- All participants contributing 100 observations and / or 100 identification (or as specified for individual categories) will be awarded an event participation / or special mention certificate (e-copy)
Monsoon Beauty 23 - Updates and Highlights
Monsoon Beauty 2023 Highlights are documented on :
India's Nature : Contact Information