Plants of Southern California: Species Obscured in iNaturalist for the Borrego Desert Project
By default, iNaturalist obscures any species that has any rarity or endangerment attributes. This is done to protect the precise locations of the species, to prevent harm to the species by poaching, collecting, etc. However, since a significant fraction of all plant species are uncommon or rare, and many of those species would not be endangered by having their precise locations known, far too many species are obscured at iNat. Obscuring a species prevents a lot of science from being done, and deprives people who just want to see a given species from finding out where to go to see it. Also, many people don't realize that a given location might have resulted from an obscured location, and end up searching for a given observation in dangerous very-inaccessible places.
The iNat obscuration is discussed here. Roughly, the actual coordinates of an observation are replaced by a random location up to 20 km (15 miles) away.
It is obvious at a glance how big of a problem obscuration is for a geographically-defined project by looking at the maps in Fig. 1.
| 
|
| Fig. 1.
Left: All iNat observations placed within the Borrego Desert Project, including obscured locations with a symbol of a circle with or without a dot at its center. Non-obscured locations are a tear-drop shaped green, with or without a dot at its center. (The dot indicates whether an observation is "Research Grade" or not.) Right: Only non-obscured iNat observations placed within the Borrego Desert Project. Click on the maps to go to the main page for each query. | |
The map showing only the non-obscured observations in Fig. 1 behaves as one would expect, showing only observations within the boundaries of the iNat Project.
In contrast, the map including the obscured observations is a complete mess, showing a large number of observations plotting outside the boundaries, and showing a large number of obscured observations in places where there are no actual observations. Many of those obscured observations are obscured species that only live in the Cuyamaca or Laguna Mountains, and they only are placed in the Desert project because their random location up to 28 km away makes their obscured location change from the mountains to the desert.
Worse, some observations of obscured species that are actually within the project are not included in the project, because their random location up to 28 km away makes them fall outside the project. For example, some Desert Transition Zone species at 3000 feet elevation end up being plotted in the Mountains at 6000 feet elevation.
The obscuration apparently does not work consistently even within iNat. For example, this observation of Castela emoryi is said to be in the Project (see the list under "Projects" at middle right), yet a search for all observations of Castela emoryi within the Project doesn't return ANY observations even though there are 93 observations that are actually within the Project area, all from the Crucifixion Thorn Natural Area near Ocotillo (only some have obscured locations that place them out of the area).
The purpose of this page is to list all the species that are obscured in the Flora of Anza-Borrego State Park and adjacent desert iNat Project, and stimulate discussion as to which species should remain obscured, and which species should have their obscuration removed. This version of the page is only a first draft, and contains only my thoughts about whether a species actually needs obscuration or not. As I get feedback from others, I'll modify the tables with their comments.
The currently-obscured species are given in four tables below:
- Montane species placed in the project that do not actually belong in the project, and should not be obscured. Obscuration is disastrous for a project like ours, since essentially every obscured species in the Laguna Mountains becomes present in our Desert Project, since the western boundary of the desert is just a few km from the crest of the Laguna Mountains.
- Species actually in the project that should not be obscured. Most annuals should never be obscured, since there is no threat at all that someone would collect them. Many perennials and shrubs in this list have no plausible threat to them.
- Species actually in the project that should remain obscured
- Species actually in the project that need further discussion as to whether they should be obscured or not..
Many comments are just "annual". Most annuals should never be obscured, since there is no threat at all that someone would collect them.
Comments by people other than myself are given in the Tables, with their initials:
DR: Don Rideout
KM: Keir Morse
When others have made comments, I have identified my comments with my initials, TJC.
Table 1. Montane species placed in the project that do not actually belong in the project, and should not be obscured
| Species Name | Justification |
|---|---|
| Camissoniopsis bistorta | Annual, quite common fire-follower. I flagged this for non-obscuration at iNat on 28 March 2022, and Keir Morse un-obscured it on 5 January 2023. |
| Limnanthes alba parishii | Annual, with huge numbers above Cuyamaca Lake. |
| Sidotheca emarginata | Annual, fairly widespread at San Jacinto Mountain, where one obs from Garner Valley got flung into the Desert Project. |
Table 2. Species actually in the project that should not be obscured
| Species Name | Justification |
|---|---|
| Allium marvinii | This used to be rare, but has been found to be quite common and widespread, with many plants formerly determined as A. haematichiton now determined as A. marvinii. |
| Androsace elongata acuta | Annual |
| Astragalus crotalariae | Widespread in the Borrego Badlands, not in danger. |
| Astragalus insularis harwoodii | Annual |
| Astragalus lentiginosus borreganus | Annual |
| Ayenia compacta | More widespread than originally thought; not in danger. |
| Brickellia atractyloides arguta | Not in danger |
| Carlowrightia arizonica | This used to be rare, but has been found to be quite common and widespread |
| Caulanthus simulans | A very-abundant fire follower. |
| Chaenactis carphoclinia peirsonii | Annual |
| Chorizanthe leptotheca | Annual |
| Cryptantha decipiens | Annual |
| Cryptantha ganderi | Annual |
| Cryptantha nevadensis | Annual |
| Cylindropuntia wolfii | Quite common where it lives; not endangered |
| Delphinium parishii subglobosum | Quite common. |
| Eriastrum harwoodii | Annual |
| Erythranthe diffusa | Annual |
| Eucnide rupestris | Behaves as a monsoonal annual. |
| Euphorbia abramsiana | Annual. Much more widespread than originally thought. |
| Euphorbia revoluta | Annual |
| Funastrum utahense | Not endangered. |
| Galium angustifolium borregoense | Not endangered. |
| Gilia mexicana | Annual |
| Grindelia hallii | Fairly common; not endangered. |
| Harpagonella palmeri | Annual |
| Horsfordia newberryi | Fairly common; not endangered. |
| Hulsea californica | Fire-follower |
| Johnstonella costata | Annual |
| Johnstonella holoptera | Annual |
| Lessingia glandulifera tomentosa | Annual |
| Linanthus maculatus emaculatus | Annual |
| Lycium brevipes brevipes | Quite common; not endangered. |
| Lycium parishii | Not endangered. |
| Lyrocarpa coulteri | Fairly common; not endangered. |
| Malperia tenuis | Annual |
| Mentzelia desertorum | Annual |
| Mentzelia hirsutissima | Fairly common; not endangered. |
| Mirabilis tenuiloba | Fairly common; not endangered. |
| Penstemon clevelandii connatus | Not endangered. |
| Phacelia campanularia campanularia | Annual |
| Pholistoma auritum arizonicum | Annual |
| Pilostyles thurberi | Not endangered. |
| Proboscidea althaeifolia | Quite common where it exists. Behaves as a monsoonal plant. Not endangered. |
| Pseudoziziphus parryi parryi | Fairly common; not endangered. |
| Rhus aromatica simplicifolia | The species is not obscured, and this variety is not recognized in most treatments. Not endangered. |
| Saltugilia caruifolia | Annual |
| Saltugilia latimeri | Annual. This should probably be open. It looks relatively common and no one is going to go poach Saltugilia (KM). |
| Salvia eremostachya | Not common, but not endangered. |
| Selaginella eremophila | Fairly common; not endangered. |
| Senna covesii | Fairly common; not endangered. |
| Streptanthus campestris | Annual |
Table 3. Species actually in the project that possibly should remain obscured
| Species Name | Justification |
|---|---|
| Calochortus concolor | Quite common and widespread (TJC), but there might be poaching concerns since many people would love to have it in their garden (KM). |
| Dudleya saxosa aloides | Quite abundant, but possibly a target of collectors (TJC). This species has possible poaching concerns (KM). |
| Epipactis gigantea | Numerous where it exists (TJC). Poaching is listed as a concern for Point Reyes on iNat and it was mentioned as a problem when I worked at Yosemite (KM) |
| Mammillaria tetrancistra | Prized by collectors. I've had a known poacher contact me for private locations. |
| Nemacladus twisselmannii botanywomaniae | Trampling by people looking for it could harm the population |
| Pseudorontium cyathiferum | Annual, but very rare species in California. |
Table 4. Species actually in the project that need further discussion as to whether they should be obscured or not
| Species Name | Justification |
|---|---|
| Astragalus douglasii perstrictus | |
| Astragalus magdalenae peirsonii | |
| Astragalus pachypus jaegeri | |
| Astragalus sabulonum | Annual. |
| Bursera microphylla | The locations of the main herds are not secrets; Torote Canyon is named for them, and many guidebooks say where they live. The ABDSP Visitor Center will direct people to where they can find them. TJC has put maps with accurate locations of the plants online. However, if the locations are unobscured at iNat, that will make it much easier to find plants, especially young ones that might be targets for poaching. (DR and TJC) |
| Calliandra eriophylla | |
| Calyptridium arizonicum | Annual, but not widespread. |
| Castela emoryi | |
| Cleomella palmeri | |
| Diplacus aridus | |
| Geraea viscida | |
| Herissantia crispa | |
| Horsfordia alata | |
| Imperata brevifolia | |
| Ipomopsis tenuifolia | |
| Lepidium flavum felipense | Annual. |
| Leptosiphon floribundus hallii | |
| Lilium humboldtii ocellatum | |
| Linanthus bellus | Annual. |
| Matelea parvifolia | |
| Menodora scabra glabrescens | |
| Penstemon thurberi |