We all know Tyler Arboretum as a special place for escape, reflection, learning and the simple enjoyment of the wonders of nature. The wide diversity of plants, animals and topography within Tyler’s boundaries is the foundation that makes Tyler what it is. While we can enjoy and appreciate nature without knowing the name of every “thing” we see, attaching a name to that “thing” suddenly makes it special, unique. A name helps us appreciate the complexity of nature. It builds a connection, even empathy.
Interested members of the Tyler community have created a Tyler Arboretum Biodiversity Project on iNaturalist. iNaturalist is a citizen science project available on your computer and phone that provides a place for ordinary folks like you and me to record and share observations with fellow enthusiasts and experts worldwide.
The Tyler Arboretum Biodiversity Project pulls all of the observations ever posted to iNaturalist from inside Tyler Arboretum into a single collection that can be viewed, sorted and studied. Going forward, any observations submitted to iNaturalist from inside the arboretum will automatically be added to the project. The first observation (a Red-Spotted Purple butterfly) was submitted on September 2, 2016. Since then more than 4,700 observations of over 1,330 species have been recorded by 363 observers at Tyler and the numbers continue to grow.
A snapshot of the stats for the Tyler Arboretum Biodiversity Project on iNaturalist as of June 24, 2025. This reflects 170 new observations in the last 2 weeks, including 26 additional new species at Tyler which had not previously been posted to iNaturalist.
iNaturalist was launched in 2008 as a Masters degree project at the University of California. It has since collected over 250 million observations of well over half a million species by almost 3.8 million observers. iNat’s map of observations literally covers the globe. News of discoveries of new or lost species by iNat users constantly appears on its web page.
Nobody explains the value of iNaturalist better than the iNat folks themselves:
“The more people who use iNaturalist, the richer our perspective on biodiversity. Unlike most other nature apps, iNaturalist is a nonprofit organization and the data from iNaturalist contributes to science and conservation! That means your contributions and curiosity are supporting a global movement for nature.”
The power to make a positive impact for nature is literally in the palm of your hands.
The learning curve is not steep, and most people use the free app, which allows you to take a photo with your phone and upload your observation. If you permit locations on your phone, the observation will automatically be placed into the Tyler Project. You can also upload photos you’ve taken with a camera onto the iNat web site. Locations can be pinpointed manually on a map found either in the app or on the web. iNat also appreciates sound recordings.
You say you have no idea what the thing that you just photographed is? No problem! This app will show you its best guess, which you can accept or reject and offer your own identification. After you post your observation, members of the community will either agree or offer an alternative and hopefully explain why. This is a great learning tool and can get addictive!
There are two smaller projects embedded inside the broader Tyler Biodiversity project. One is for the Pollinator Preserve and the other is a Pink Hill Barrens project. If you locate your observation inside one of those places your observation will show up in the specific project as well as in the broader Tyler project. There is no need to enter it into both.
We certainly hope that this project will become a valuable resource for visitors to Tyler Arboretum. We also see great potential for the project to be a resource for the arboretum’s many education projects, especially our burgeoning youth education programs. There is much excitement about this potential value among the folks at Tyler who run these programs.
So, check it out: iNaturalist.org. You don’t need to create an account to browse the site. Search for Tyler Arboretum in the search box on the homepage and you will find our projects. Then download the app (recommended but not required), join iNaturalist and get started!
