Toolbox

iNaturalist species observations to geodata

ConversionVector
Download species observations from the public iNaturalist API for a given bounding box, optionally filtered by taxon (scientific name), iconic group, quality grade, wildness and observation date. Output is a GeoPackage with one point layer 'observations'. Hard limit: 10 000 records per run.
Demo
Area of interest (west, south, east, north in WGS84). Leave empty for a global search — in that case you almost always need a taxon, iconic group or tight date window, otherwise the query will exceed the 10 000-record limit.
Scientific or common taxon name (e.g. 'Bubo bubo' or 'Eagle-owl'). Leave empty to download observations for all species in the area.
Select one iconic taxon group (Birds, Plants, Insects, Fungi, Mammals, etc). Combines with 'Taxon name' if both are set.
Observation quality. Select needed.
Exclude captive/cultivated observations. Default: all observation types.
Lower bound of observation date. Format: YYYY-MM-DD.
Upper bound of observation date. Format: YYYY-MM-DD.

Docs

Downloads species observations from the public iNaturalist API for a given bounding box, optionally filtered by taxon (scientific name), iconic group, quality grade, wildness and observation date. Hard limit: 10 000 records per run.

Inputs:

  • Bounding box - draw your area of interest on the map or enter coordinates in decimal degrees (West, South, East, North in WGS84).

  • Taxon name - ccientific or common taxon name (e.g. Bubo bubo or Eagle-owl). Leave empty to download all species in the area.

  • Iconic taxon group. Select one iconic taxon group (Birds, Plants, Insects, Fungi, Mammals, etc). Combines with ‘Taxon name’ if both are set. Options:

    • Animalia

    • Actinopterygii

    • Amphibia

    • Arachnida

    • Aves

    • Chromista

    • Fungi

    • Insecta

    • Mammalia

    • Mollusca

    • Plantae

    • Protozoa

    • Reptilia

  • Observation quality. iNaturalist quality grade filter. Options:

    • Research Grade (research)

    • Needs ID (needs_id)

    • Casual (casual)

  • Only wild. Exclude captive / cultivated observations. Default: all observation types.

  • Observation date from. Lower bound of observation date. Format: YYYY-MM-DD.

  • Observation date to. Upper bound of observation date. Format: YYYY-MM-DD.

Outputs:

  • GeoPackage with one point layer ‘observations’;

  • Report;

  • JSON.

Example:

_images/inaturalist_download_result_en.png

Example output file opened in QGIS

Try the tool in action

  1. Click on the Demo button above the tool form. The fields are filled in with demo values.

  2. Click on the Run button.

See also

ConversionVector