course material

1. [From 10$/Pg] Least 1 Research Grade
[From 10$/Pg] Least 1 Research Grade Instructions: Now, you will focus on one animal
species from your taxonomic group that has been found in one or both soft-bottom regions
of the LA River. (Note: The name of your LA River group is the taxonomic group you have
been assigned to. Your assigned taxonomic group will be one of the following: mammals,
birds, insects, fish or reptiles/amphibians. Follow these instructions to view your group
assignment (Links to an external site.).) To see which animal species from your group are
present, go to the iNaturalist locations (links below). Then, enter your taxonomic group
name into the ‘Species’ box and select the species tab above the map – you will see a list of
all of the species from that taxonomic group. If you are in the reptile/amphibian group, you
will need to look at reptiles and amphibians separately. As an example, if your taxonomic
group was ‘birds’, when you look at the species list for these locations, you might see
species like Canada Goose (Links to an external site.) and Snowy Egret (Links to an external
site.). Links to iNaturalist places for soft-bottom stretches of the Los Angeles River: Los
Angeles River – Elysian ValleyLos Angeles River – Sepulveda Basin Wildlife ReserveEach
student from your taxonomic group will need to select a unique animal species, so make
sure that you look at all of the posts that have been submitted in order to make sure that
you do not choose the same species as someone else. You will be focusing on this species for
the rest of the assignments for the LA River Project, so choose carefully!. Tips for selecting a
species:The species you select must have at least 1 research grade observation within the
location boundariesIf possible, I recommend that you pick a species that has multiple
observations rather than a species that has only 1 observation across the two sites.Take a
look at the iNaturalist species pages to see how much is known about a species before you
select it — this will help you determine if you will be able to find enough information about
the biology and ecology of that species to complete the Individual Species Research
assignment.Post Requirements:Common name and scientific name of your species Post a
photo of your species. To receive full credit, you must include a properly-formatted
attribution (like a citation for images and videos) for the image. See the image above for an
example and check out the helpful resources below for tips on how to find images and
attribute the source of the image. Be sure to insert the images into the discussion post,
rather than adding them as attachments to your reply. A link to at least one credible source
of information about your species.Is your species native or introduced to Los Angeles
County?Wait, what are native and introduced species? A species is native to an area if it
occurs there ‘naturally’, meaning due only to local natural evolution. An introduced species

2. is a species that is not native to an area, but rather was transported to that location area by
humans or due to human activity. For the purposes of this project, migratory birds are
considered to be native species. To determine if if it is native or introduced to Los Angeles
County, click on one of the iNaturalist observations of your species that was made in either
of the soft-bottom stretches of the river. If it is an introduced species, you will see a magenta
exclamation mark icon after the species name. (See red arrow pointing to the icon in the
image below.)