Authors: Canavan, Susan; Rodríguez, Jonatan;Castillo, Maria Loreto;Maříková-Moodley, Desika;Pipek, Pavel;Pyšek, Petr;Novoa, Ana;

Analyses of digitally generated and stored data can reveal ecological patterns and processes that would otherwise be difficult to study; this approach has recently emerged as iEcology. Plant reproductive success is an important trait influencing invasiveness, and it strongly depends on flowering phenology. To ensure fecundity and successful development of seeds, invasive plants need to adjust their flowering to the most appropriate time of the year in their introduced ranges. Here, we apply iEcology tools to study the flowering phenology of the South African succulent taxa of the genus Carpobrotus that are amongst the most problematic invasive plants in coastal areas worldwide. We assessed user-generated data from geolocated pictures obtained from Instagram, a social network platform, at key tourist sites across multiple countries to record the phenological patterns of Carpobrotus spp. populations in the past 5 years. Our results suggest that iEcology provides a cost-effective approach to compare flowering periods of plants across their native and introduced ranges.