There are two parts to this assignment. First, to better understand the ecological impacts of the concrete channelization of the river, you will explore iNaturalist and look at the distribution of your species in channelized areas. Second, you will provide an analysis of the revitalization. The instructions below will walk you through each part.
Links to iNaturalist places for the two channelized stretches of the Los Angeles River that we will focus on:
Los Angeles River - Universal City
Los Angeles River - Downtown
Links to iNaturalist places for soft-bottom stretches of the Los Angeles River:
Los Angeles River - Elysian Valley
Los Angeles River - Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Reserve
Assignment Requirements
Part 1: Exploring the your species distribution using iNaturalist and graphing
Use the links for the channelized locations in the LA River Los Angeles River - Universal City and Los Angeles River - Downtown. Type the name of your species into the species box to see the number of observations of your species found in these two locations. Record the following information for EACH location:
How many observations are there of your species in the channelized sections of the river?
Save a picture or screenshot of a map of iNaturalist observations in the two channelized stretches of the Los Angeles river.
Use the links for the soft-bottom locations in the LA River Los Angeles River - Elysian Valley and Los Angeles River - Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Reserve. Type the name of your species into the species box to see the number of observations of your species found in these two locations. Record the following information for EACH location:
How many observations are there of your species in the soft-bottom sections of the river?
Save a picture or screenshot of a map of iNaturalist observations in the two soft-bottom stretches of the Los Angeles river.
Create a column graph that compares the number of observations of your species in the two channelized stretches of the LA River with the number of observations of your species in the two soft-bottom stretches of the LA river. Be sure to properly label the x- and y-axes.
Based on these data, do you think your species is common or rare in the concrete channels?
Based on these data, do you think your species is common or rare in the soft-bottom sections?
Do you see a difference in the number of observations of your species in the soft-bottom vs. channelized sections? If so, propose an explanation for why that difference might exist, or if there is not one why might this be? In your explanation, consider factors like, th