WashU

A tool for integrating campus biodiversity data from disparate sources.

10,406
records
936
species
4
data sources
90
years

Four Sources, One Biodiversity Dataset

Records by source TreeKeeper 70.8% (7,364 records); eBird 14.3% (1,486 records); iNaturalist 13.5% (1,407 records); External 1.4% (149 records). TreeKeeper eBird iNaturalist External 1.4% 70.8% 14.3% 13.5%
  • TreeKeeper — 70.8% (7,364 records)
  • eBird — 14.3% (1,486 records)
  • iNaturalist — 13.5% (1,407 records)
  • External — 1.4% (149 records)

Community Science

366 Distinct Community Observers

Observers across eBird and iNaturalist. See how you can add your observations to our data:

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Gallery

Two red fox kits sitting on a grassy bank at the mouth of their den. Red Fox Vulpes vulpes · 1 record Photographed once, in November 2022. A single fox is the record that makes people re-see a campus they walk across daily. A large yellow silkmoth resting under a lichen-covered branch. Polyphemus Moth Antheraea polyphemus · 9 records A giant silk moth with a six-inch wingspan and blue-black eyespots, which as an adult has no working mouthparts and never eats. Close-up of a purple passionflower in bloom, showing its fringed corona. Purple passionflower Passiflora incarnata · 4 records Native to Missouri, and looks engineered by someone with no budget limit — fringed purple corona, five-lobed structure. Host plant of the Gulf Fritillary, which also appears in the data.
A small brown bird perched on a bare twig. Chimney Swift Chaetura pelagica · 70 records · Vulnerable One of the most-recorded birds on campus, and globally Vulnerable. It has been on the books here since 4 June 1996 — the earliest bird record in the entire dataset. Bright orange gelatinous horns erupting from a rust gall on damp ground. Cedar-apple rust Gymnosporangium juniperi-virginianae · 3 records Needs two different host trees to complete its life cycle, and campus supplies both in bulk — 287 eastern redcedar and 106 crabapple. In spring it erupts into bright orange gelatinous tentacles.
A barred owl at a daytime roost in a tree, dark eyes facing the camera. Barred Owl Strix varia · 8 records The only owl recorded in all three observation sources — eBird, iNaturalist and the external checklist. Great Horned appears in two, Eastern Screech-Owl in one. A monarch butterfly nectaring on a spray of goldenrod. Monarch Danaus plexippus · 32 records An observer at the Elizabeth Danforth Butterfly Garden logged "dozens of these guys drinking up in the garden — maybe it's a pitstop on their way to Mexico?"

Tree Map

Map of Danforth Campus with 22 highlighted trees marked, numbered to match the list beside it.
Basemap © OpenStreetMap contributors, © CARTO
  1. American hornbeamArbor Walk Carpinus caroliniana Musclewood. The trunk ripples like a flexed forearm. A small tree, but the fluting shows at any size. 98 on campus · biggest 8″ across
  2. Bald cypress Taxodium distichum Flared fluted trunk base. A Deep South swamp tree growing on dry Missouri ground, and a conifer that goes bare in winter. 110 on campus · biggest 40″ across · best Nov for colour
  3. Hackberry Celtis occidentalis Bark covered in corky warts and ridges. Looks diseased, is perfectly healthy. 84 on campus · biggest 24″ across
  4. Lacebark elm Ulmus parvifolia Bark flakes into a jigsaw-puzzle patchwork of grey, orange and brown. 10 on campus · biggest 20″ across
  5. London planetree Platanus occidentalis Mottled camouflage bark in cream, olive and tan. The most visually distinctive common tree on campus. 125 on campus · biggest 40″ across
  6. Persian ironwood Parrotia persica Exfoliating camouflage bark, and red flowers in February before anything else wakes up. 32 on campus · biggest 9″ across · best Feb flowers
  7. River birch Betula nigra Papery salmon-pink bark peeling off in sheets. 101 of them and almost nobody knows the name. 101 on campus · biggest 14″ across
  8. Southern magnolia Magnolia grandiflora Evergreen with huge glossy leaves and dinner-plate white flowers. St. Louis is near its northern limit. 67 on campus · biggest 25″ across · best Jun flowers
  9. American sweetgum Liquidambar styraciflua Red, purple and gold on the same branch. Also the source of the spiky balls you have been rolling an ankle on. 44 on campus · biggest 35″ across · best Oct-Nov
  10. Blackgum Nyssa sylvatica The most violent scarlet on campus, and it turns first. Wild individuals have been aged past 500 years. 57 on campus · biggest 20″ across · best early Oct
  11. Bur oak Quercus macrocarpa The largest acorns of any North American oak, in shaggy fringed cups. 20 on campus · biggest 44″ across · best autumn
  12. Dawn redwood Metasequoia glyptostroboides Rust-orange, then bare. Known only from fossils until living trees were found in China in 1944. 16 on campus · biggest 24″ across · best Nov
  13. Ginkgo Ginkgo biloba Turns pure gold then drops nearly every leaf in a single day. A living fossil. Females make notoriously foul-smelling fruit, which is why almost all planted trees are male. 107 on campus · biggest 44″ across · best late Oct
  14. Goldenrain tree Koelreuteria paniculata Yellow flower panicles, then papery lantern seedpods. 8 on campus · biggest 22″ across · best Jul flowers; Sep pods
  15. Katsura Cercidiphyllum japonicum The fallen leaves smell of burnt sugar. Stand under it in October and campus smells like cotton candy. 5 on campus · biggest 12″ across · best Oct
  16. Littleleaf linden Tilia cordata You smell it before you see it, and the whole tree hums with bees. Tied for the largest tree on campus. 53 on campus · biggest 52″ across · best Jun
  17. Northern catalpaArbor Walk Catalpa speciosa Orchid-like white flowers, dinner-plate heart leaves, then foot-long bean pods that hang all winter. 20 on campus · biggest 38″ across · best Jun flowers; pods all winter
  18. Tuliptree Liriodendron tulipifera Actual tulip-shaped orange-and-green flowers, almost always too high up to notice. 47 on campus · biggest 26″ across · best May
  19. Common persimmonArbor Walk Diospyros virginiana Bark cracked into blocks like alligator hide. Fruit is inedibly astringent until after a hard frost. 16 on campus · biggest 22″ across · best autumn
  20. Franklinia Franklinia alatamaha Not seen in the wild since about 1803. Every one alive descends from seed collected in Georgia in the 1760s. Ours is a sapling. 1 on campus · biggest 1″ across · best Aug-Sep flowers
  21. Pawpaw Asimina triloba Largest edible fruit native to North America, custard-textured, closest relatives tropical. Six inches is full size for the species. 62 on campus · biggest 6″ across · best Aug-Sep fruit
  22. Shingle oak Quercus imbricaria An oak with smooth unlobed leaves - most people do not believe it is an oak. Settlers split it for roof shingles. 28 on campus · biggest 40″ across

This Project is Made Possible By

Tyson Research Center, Washington University in St. Louis
Digital Transformation Research Corps