Most commonly reported
From XKCD, the most commonly reported plant and animal on iNaturalist for each US state (click to embiggen)
This is mostly about selection biases of various types: how recognisable the plant or animal is and how interesting. Saguaro, in Arizona, are not exactly rare, but they aren’t the most commonly seen plant. They are famously associated with the southwest desert and immediately recognisable, so they get reported often. In other states, the most common plant is genuinely common: yarrow in Montana, California Poppy in California, Amur honeysuckle (sadly) in some Kentucky and Indiana.
So what is it in New Zealand? Looking at the “research-grade” reports, because it’s easier, the most common animal seems to be the kererū, with the pīwakawaka second. Easy to recognise, popular, interesting. For plants, it’s the māhoe, which I wasn’t expecting.
Thomas Lumley (@tslumley) is Professor of Biostatistics at the University of Auckland. His research interests include semiparametric models, survey sampling, statistical computing, foundations of statistics, and whatever methodological problems his medical collaborators come up with. He also blogs at Biased and Inefficient See all posts by Thomas Lumley »