here is some feedback on the invasive species issue on the e-nature site observed during our recent habitat steward training.
Based on these notes, I will be revising the ESSI training materials to annotate advisory notes about using the e-nature site for re: native plants and point folks to the las pilitas site, CNPS, and Theodore Payne for native plant info.
The key to using eNature's field guides is to keep in mind that all of them, with the exception of the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center Native Plant Guide, are based off of the Audubon field guide series. These are not guides to native species but rather reference books to help with species identification in the field. Since so many plants and to a lesser degree animals are introduced and are commonly seen in the field, they are included in the Audubon, and therefore the eNature, field guides.
Both Craig and I have pointed out iceplant and other invasive species to the folks at eNature, and have suggested that we add a category to the Audubon information denoting invasiveness and maybe to then even build a separate invasives field guide, similar to what they did with the venomous creatures information.
The bad news is that this has so far proven too big a task given everything else eNature has on its plate. One issue is that certain species are invasive in one region and not another so adding an invasive designation on a field guide viewed nationally won't be accurate; additionally, a lot of the information on regional invasiveness is hard to come by, inconclusive, or even contradictory.
The good news is that the eNature team, along with our Web team, have been working on a shorter regional lists of good natives and worst invasives. I don't know what the status of that is, though.
My recommendation is that when you use the eNature field guides, just let folks know that they are based off of the Audubon guides and that they are not specifically guides to natives. If you need to give a native plant resource, point folks specifically to the Native Plant Guide. The one unfortunate thing is that the Native Plant Guide is only searchable by region, not zip code, unlike all the other guides (again, I think this is due to amount of time and resources needed to ''zip code-ify'' this guide). Also, LBJWC has greatly expanded their native plant database and photos beyond what appeared on eNature, so they're also a great resource and partner.
Finally, generally speaking, Craig and I are both in contact with Chris at eNature over issues relating to incorrect information or areas where eNature info. doesn't quite match NWF's program messages. Unless Chris and Deb have an better solution (and I've copied them here), I'm happy to be the conduit for passing on this type of thing so that Chris doesn't start getting emails from all over the organization.
Let me know if you have other questions, and Chris, let me know if any of this is innaccurate.
Dave
Based on these notes, I will be revising the ESSI training materials to annotate advisory notes about using the e-nature site for re: native plants and point folks to the las pilitas site, CNPS, and Theodore Payne for native plant info.
The key to using eNature's field guides is to keep in mind that all of them, with the exception of the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center Native Plant Guide, are based off of the Audubon field guide series. These are not guides to native species but rather reference books to help with species identification in the field. Since so many plants and to a lesser degree animals are introduced and are commonly seen in the field, they are included in the Audubon, and therefore the eNature, field guides.
Both Craig and I have pointed out iceplant and other invasive species to the folks at eNature, and have suggested that we add a category to the Audubon information denoting invasiveness and maybe to then even build a separate invasives field guide, similar to what they did with the venomous creatures information.
The bad news is that this has so far proven too big a task given everything else eNature has on its plate. One issue is that certain species are invasive in one region and not another so adding an invasive designation on a field guide viewed nationally won't be accurate; additionally, a lot of the information on regional invasiveness is hard to come by, inconclusive, or even contradictory.
The good news is that the eNature team, along with our Web team, have been working on a shorter regional lists of good natives and worst invasives. I don't know what the status of that is, though.
My recommendation is that when you use the eNature field guides, just let folks know that they are based off of the Audubon guides and that they are not specifically guides to natives. If you need to give a native plant resource, point folks specifically to the Native Plant Guide. The one unfortunate thing is that the Native Plant Guide is only searchable by region, not zip code, unlike all the other guides (again, I think this is due to amount of time and resources needed to ''zip code-ify'' this guide). Also, LBJWC has greatly expanded their native plant database and photos beyond what appeared on eNature, so they're also a great resource and partner.
Finally, generally speaking, Craig and I are both in contact with Chris at eNature over issues relating to incorrect information or areas where eNature info. doesn't quite match NWF's program messages. Unless Chris and Deb have an better solution (and I've copied them here), I'm happy to be the conduit for passing on this type of thing so that Chris doesn't start getting emails from all over the organization.
Let me know if you have other questions, and Chris, let me know if any of this is innaccurate.
Dave
