Scientists Launched Global Food Web Mapping Platform
The new Who Eats Whom database aggregates crowdsourced imagery to track shifting species interactions worldwide.
Updated on Sept. 22, 2026 in Environmental
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Researchers have launched the Who Eats Whom platform to visualize global food webs using data crowdsourced from the social network iNaturalist. The platform currently includes 17,000 documented species interactions spanning over 100 countries.
Why it matters
Understanding how predator-prey dynamics change as the planet warms is critical for conservation. This platform enables real-time monitoring of invasive species and shifts in ecosystem stability at a global scale.
The database contains 17,000 documented species interactions involving 5,700 distinct species. These data points are sourced from geotagged photos across more than 100 countries, providing a record that far exceeds the scope of conventional, site-specific ecological surveys.
The players
North Carolina State University
An academic institution serving as the original development site for the Who Eats Whom research initiative.
Colorado State University
A research university that currently hosts the lead researchers managing the ecological database.
iNaturalist
A nonprofit social network that facilitates global biodiversity data collection through crowdsourced, geotagged photography.
The details
The platform functions by aggregating images uploaded to iNaturalist, a nonprofit social network where users identify and geotag wildlife. An interactive food web visualizer then processes these photos to map predator-prey relationships. This mechanism allows researchers to observe ecosystem transformations, such as the introduction of invasive species, by analyzing changes in feeding patterns documented by the public.
Timeline
September 22, 2026: The Who Eats Whom platform was formally introduced.
The Tech Race
The platform marks a shift toward leveraging massive, crowdsourced image repositories to replace labor-intensive, localized fieldwork. It competes against traditional ecological surveys by providing a dynamic, global view of interactions that static research programs cannot capture at this scale.
Users can contribute to the database by uploading their own wildlife photos to iNaturalist, effectively acting as data points for global conservation research. The platform provides public access to an interactive visualizer that displays species relationships, offering a window into local ecosystem health.
The takeaway
This platform turns casual nature photography into a powerful tool for longitudinal ecological study. Watch for future updates from the research team as they continue to integrate new datasets to reveal patterns of ecosystem transformation over time.
Further reading
Learn more about the latest innovations in ecological research within the Environmental section.
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Do you believe participating in citizen science platforms is an effective way to help local ecosystems?
