City Nature Challenge 2024 Results

From the California Academy of Sciences:

City Nature Challenge records 2.4 million wildlife observations from more than 83,000 participants in a single weekend

Data from community scientists across the globe informs species conservation, enhances understanding of global biodiversity

Now in its ninth year, the annual City Nature Challenge (CNC) global bioblitz has concluded, yielding more than 2,400,000 wildlife observations for another record-breaking year. Over the four-day event, held between April 26-29, more than 83,000 people across six continents used the free mobile app iNaturalist to participate however they could—including attending community wildlife surveys and observing species in their own homes—to document the wondrous diversity of wild plants, animals, and fungi that share our planet. From observations of critically endangered and elusive species to sightings outside of known species ranges, information collected during the City Nature Challenge underscores the value of community science to track real-time changes in our planet’s biodiversity—especially in urban areas.

Read the full press release

Local observation makes the news! The California Academy of Sciences included this incredible iNaturalist observation of a Bobcat by John Hartgerink at Bluebonnet Swamp Nature Center in their press release.

Baton Rouge Region Results

April 26-29, 2024

17,511
Observations Made

#33 in the world
out of 690 cities

#14 in the USA
out of 134 cities

2,703
Species Documented

#19 in the world
out of 690 cities

#10 in the USA
out of 134 cities

382
People Participated

#52 in the world
out of 690 cities

#31 in the USA
out of 134 cities

Louisiana Results

#1 Baton Rouge Region

#2 Southwest Louisiana Region

#3 New Orleans Region

Comparison by Similar population

Competing Regions with populations 1 Million - 2.5 million

111 competitors

Observations

  1. La Paz, Bolivia

  2. Monterrey, Mexico

  3. Cochabamba, Bolivia

  4. Austin, TX

  5. Chiayi-Yunlin, Taiwan

  6. Raleigh, NC

  7. Baton Rouge, LA

  8. Vancouver, Canada

  9. Montreal, Canada

  10. Calgary, Canada

Species

  1. La Paz, Bolivia

  2. Cochabamba, Bolivia

  3. Monterrey, Mexico

  4. Austin, TX

  5. Chiayi-Yunlin, Taiwan

  6. Baton Rouge, LA

  7. Raleigh, NC

  8. Asheville, NC

  9. Quito, Ecuador

  10. Pittsburgh, PA

Participants

  1. La Paz, Bolivia

  2. Monterrey, Mexico

  3. Austin, TX

  4. Raleigh, NC

  5. Cochabamba, Bolivia

  6. Montreal, Canada

  7. Asheville, NC

  8. Pittsburgh, PA

  9. Vancouver, Canada

  10. Knoxville, TN

  11. Norwalk, CT

  12. Baton Rouge, LA

Comparison by similar area

Competing Regions 10,000-25,000 square kilometers

64 competitors

Observations

  1. Dallas/Fort Worth, TX

  2. Washington D.C.

  3. San Francisco, CA

  4. San Diego County, CA

  5. Albuquerque, NM

  6. Austin, TX

  7. Los Angeles, CA

  8. Baton Rouge, LA

  9. Seattle-Tacoma Metropolitan Area, WA

  10. Greater Boston, MA

Species

  1. Dallas/Fort Worth, TX

  2. San Francisco, CA

  3. Washington D.C.

  4. Austin, TX

  5. San Diego County, CA

  6. Los Angeles, CA

  7. Baton Rouge, LA

  8. Santa Cruz, Bolivia

  9. Curitiba, Brazil

  10. Lower Rio Grande Valley, TX

Participants

  1. San Francisco, CA

  2. Los Angeles, CA

  3. Washington D.C.

  4. Austin, TX

  5. Dallas/Fort Worth, TX

  6. Boston, MA

  7. San Diego County, CA

  8. Chicago, IL

  9. Seattle-Tacoma Metropolitan Area, WA

  10. Sacramento, CA

  11. Pittsburgh, PA

  12. Monterey & Pacific Grove, CA

  13. Santa Cruz, Bolivia

  14. Albuquerque, NM

  15. Saint Louis, MO

  16. Sydney, Australia

  17. Baton Rouge, LA

Most Observed Species in the Baton Rouge Region

Overall

  1. Fall Webworm Moth Caterpillars

  2. Blue Dasher Dragonfly

  3. Virginia Creeper

  4. Eastern Poison Ivy

  5. Southern Dewberry

Mammals
(28 species observed)

  1. Eastern Gray Squirrel

  2. Common Raccoon

  3. Swamp Rabbit

  4. White-tailed Deer

  5. Virginia Opossum

Amphibians
(19 species observed)

  1. Cope’s Gray Treefrog

  2. Green Treefrog

  3. Squirrel Treefrog

  4. Green/Bronze Frog

  5. Gulf Coast Toad

Reptiles
(33 species observed)

  1. Green Anole

  2. Banded Watersnake

  3. Pond Slider

  4. Broad-headed Skink

  5. Western Ribbon Snake

 

Butterflies
(43 species observed)

  1. Pearl Crescent

  2. Black Swallowtail

  3. Common Buckeye

  4. Little Wood Satyr

  5. Dun Skipper

Moths
(319 species observed)

  1. Fall Webworm Moth

  2. Buck Moth

  3. Waterlily Leafcutter Moth

  4. Moonseed Moth

  5. Forest Tent Caterpillar Moth

Other Arthropods
(745 species observed)

  1. Blue Dasher

  2. Great Blue Skimmer

  3. Western Honey Bee

  4. Eastern Pondhawk

  5. Common Pill Woodlouse

 

Plants (1,069 species observed)

Trees

  1. American Sweetgum

  2. Water Oak

  3. Chinese Tallow

  4. Southern Magnolia

  5. Red Maple

Vines

  1. Virginia Creeper

  2. Eastern Poison Ivy

  3. Muscadine

  4. Peppervine

  5. Japanese Climbing Fern

Other Plants

  1. Southern Dewberry

  2. Bristle Thistle

  3. Largeflower Pink-Sorrel

  4. Chinese Privet

  5. Mock Strawberry

 

Birds
(118 species observed)

  1. Northern Cardinal

  2. Northern Mockingbird

  3. Carolina Wren

  4. Eastern Bluebird

  5. Red-winged Blackbird

Fish
(15 species observed)

  1. Western Mosquitofish

  2. Sailfin Molly

  3. Bluegill

  4. Eastern Mosquitofish

  5. Western Blacktail Shiner

Fungi & Lichens
(156 species observed)

  1. Latte Bracket

  2. Christmas Lichen

  3. Trametes cubensis bracket fungi

  4. Crowded Parchment

  5. Hairy Oyster Mushroom

 

Threatened Birds
(12 species observed)

  1. Common Grackle

  2. Little Blue Heron

  3. Chimney Swift

  4. Bald Eagle

  5. Eastern Meadowlark

Threatened Plants
(21 species observed)

  1. American Elm

  2. Green Ash

  3. Lanceleaf Arrowhead

  4. Longleaf Pine

  5. Carolina Ash

Threatened Other Animals

  1. Common Box Turtle

  2. American Bumblebee

  3. American Alligator

  4. Duke’s Skipper Butterfly

  5. Two-toed Amphiuma

 

Local Leaderboard

#1 Brandon Johnson, far left, next to #8 Janie Braud, and #2 Katrina Hashagen with nature pals Alok & Janine Kharey and Amber King at the BREC BioBlitz at Bluebonnet Swamp Nature Center.

 
 

Thank you to our participants, volunteers, partners and identifiers!

Most Observations

  1. Brandon Johnson

  2. Katrina Hashagen

  3. Daniel Patterson

  4. Carson Lambert

  5. Alice Miller

  6. Katherine Gividen

  7. Erin Bryan

  8. Janie Braud

  9. Jody Shugart

  10. Cindy Thompson

Most Species

  1. Daniel Patterson

  2. Katrina Hashagen

  3. Brandon Johnson

  4. Jody Shugart

  5. Alice Miller

  6. Erin Bryan

  7. Carson Lambert

  8. Katherine Gividen

  9. Amber King

  10. Janie Braud

Most Identifications

  1. Katrina Hashagen

  2. Daniel Patterson

  3. Lisa Appelbaum

  4. Janie Braud

  5. Amber King

  6. Ken Bosso

  7. Sean Golden

  8. Roger Butner

  9. Brad Moon

  10. Krista Adams

Observation Distribution

We had observations made in all 12 parishes of our region! Here are the 20 spots that had the most observations logged:

Observation Hot Spots

1. BREC Bluebonnet Swamp Nature Center

2. LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens at Burden

3. Big Branch Marsh NWR & Lacombe area

4. LSU Hilltop Arboretum

5. Baton Rouge Audubon Society Amite River Wildlife Sanctuary

6. Tickfaw State Park & River

7. Tunica Hills WMA

8. BREC Highland Road Park & Observatory

9. Dawson Creek Trail & Perkins Road Park

10. Waddill Wildlife Refuge

11. Northlake Nature Center, Pelican Park & Fontainebleau State Park area

12. Joyce WMA

13. BREC Forest Community Park

14. Bogue Chitto National Wildlife Refuge

15. BREC Hooper Road Park

16. North Park, Denham Springs

17. BREC Bayou Manchac Park

18. BREC Frenchtown Conservation Area

19. Downtown BR & Capitol Lake

20. Bogue Chitto State Park

Observation Quality

Verifiable Observations
Observations with photo or audio evidence and the organism is wild (meaning not captive or cultivated.)

97.7%

We improved 4.7% on this important statistic, though our standing is still low, #375 in the world.

Research Grade
Verifiable observations that were able to be identified and can be used for scientific research.

48%

We dropped 4% on this statistic - something to work on! We placed #229 in the world for this statistic. This often means the organism in the photo was not clear enough to identify it.

Baton Rouge City Nature Challenge 2024 Favorite Finds & Moments

Selected by the Louisiana Master Naturalists of Greater Baton Rouge

Coming soon!

Global Results

2,436,844
Observations Made

During the four day challenge

65,682+
Species Documented

Including 3,940+
rare, threatened, or endangered species

83,528
People Participated

From 51 countries

The overall winner is La Paz, Bolivia!

2024 City Nature Challenge Infographic

2024 Results Infographic

Global Leaderboard

Observations

  1. La Paz, Bolivia

  2. Monterrey, Mexico

  3. San Antonio, TX

  4. Cochabamba, Bolivia

  5. Trinidad

  6. Dallas/Fort Worth, TX

  7. Houston, TX

  8. Washington D.C.

  9. Innsbruck, Austria

  10. Cape Town, South Africa

  11. San Francisco, CA

  12. Hong Kong, China

  13. Hyderabad, India

  14. Tagum City, Philippines

  15. São Paulo, Brazil

  16. South Florida

  17. San Diego County, CA

  18. New York City, NY

  19. Albuquerque, NM

  20. Austin, TX

  21. Los Angeles, CA

  22. Chiayi-Yunlin, Taiwan

  23. Philadelphia, PA

  24. Salzburg, Austria

  25. Milazzo, Italy

  26. Ōtautahi/Christchurch, New Zealand

  27. Brno, Czech Republic

  28. Nanakmatta, India

  29. Veseli nad Moravou, Czech Republic

  30. Raleigh, NC

  31. Te Upoko o te ika/Wellington, New Zealand

  32. Berlin, Germany

  33. Baton Rouge, LA

  34. Durban, South Africa

  35. Seattle-Tacoma Metropolitan Area, WA

Species

  1. La Paz, Bolivia

  2. Hong Kong, China

  3. Innsbruck, Austria

  4. Houston, TX

  5. San Antonio, TX

  6. Cochabamba, Bolivia

  7. South Florida

  8. Cape Town, South Africa

  9. Dallas/Fort Worth, TX

  10. San Francisco, CA

  11. Washington D.C.

  12. Monterrey, Mexico

  13. Tagum City, Philippines

  14. Trinidad

  15. Austin, TX

  16. San Diego County, CA

  17. Los Angeles, CA

  18. Chiayi-Yunlin, Taiwan

  19. Baton Rouge, LA

  20. Durban, South Africa

  21. Raleigh, NC

  22. Milazzo, Italy

  23. São Paulo, Brazil

  24. Te Upoko o te ika/Wellington, New Zealand

  25. Botswana

  26. Santa Cruz, Bolivia

  27. Philadelphia, PA

  28. Garden Route District, South Africa

  29. Ōtautahi/Christchurch, New Zealand

  30. Neusiedler See/Seewinkel, Austria

  31. Berlin, Germany

  32. Salzburg, Austria

  33. Roma, Italy

  34. Curitiba, Brazil

  35. Ukraine

Participants

  1. La Paz, Bolivia

  2. Monterrey, Mexico

  3. San Francisco, CA

  4. Los Angeles, CA

  5. Trinidad

  6. Washington D.C.

  7. Houston, TX

  8. Austin, TX

  9. Dallas/Fort Worth, TX

  10. Boston, MA

  11. San Antonio, TX

  12. San Diego County, CA

  13. Cape Town, South Africa

  14. Raleigh, NC

  15. Philadelphia, PA

  16. Chicago, IL

  17. New York City, NY

  18. Cochabamba, Bolivia

  19. Hong Kong, China

  20. Tagum City, Philippines

  21. Seattle-Tacoma Metropolitan Area, WA

  22. Montreal, Canada

  23. Melbourne, Australia

  24. South Florida

  25. Baltimore, MD

  26. Atlanta, GA

  27. Asheville, NC

  28. Toronto and GTA, Canada

  29. Sacramento, CA

  30. San Bernardino, CA

  31. Pittsburgh, PA

  32. Monterey & Pacific Grove, CA

  33. Brno, Czech Republic

  34. Hyderabad, India

  35. Santa Cruz, Bolivia

…

52. Baton Rouge, LA