BioBlitz

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Base camp at a BioBlitz in Auckland, New Zealand

A BioBlitz is a 24-hour inventory of all living organisms in a given area, often an urban park. It was developed by Harvard biologist E.O. Wilson and Massachusetts wildlife expert Peter Alden to catalog the organisms around Walden Pond, which led to a state-wide program known as biodiversity Days.

A bioblitz has the dual aims of establishing the degree of biodiversity in an area and popularising science. Botanists, mycologists and entomologists all play a role. Some BioBlitzes are an annual event.

Scientists establish a base at a point close to the area and provide expertise in identifying organisms found by the public as well as doing their own inspection of the area.

A full BioBlitz must take place over a full 24-hour period as different organisms are likely to be found at different times of day. Schools may organise BioBlitzes over a shorter period of time, but the results will less accurately show the variety of species in the area.

At a BioBlitz in New York City's Central Park in 2003 the following numbers of species in each group were found: 393 plants, 78 moths, 14 fungi, 10 spiders, 9 dragonflies, 2 tardigrades, 102 other invertebrates, 7 mammals, 3 turtles, 46 birds and 2 frogs.

The list of events below is not comprehensive.

1 United States of America
2 Canada
3 Australia
4 New Zealand

[edit] United States of America

Colorado: The National Wildlife Federation has been providing a toolset based on the eNature.com species data in the Denver/Boulder metropolitan area since 2004. Results are online. See [1].
Connecticut: The Center for Conservation and Biodiversity and Connecticut State Museum of Natural History have held a BioBlitz each year (except 2004) since 1999. See [2].
District of Columbia: A BioBlitz at the Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens in Washington, D.C. in 1996 found approximately 1000 species. See [3]
Illinois: The Field Museum of Natural History and other organisations held a BioBlitz in Chicago in 2002. See [4].
Missouri: Several organisations collaborated on a BioBlitz at Forest Park in St Louis in 2004. See [5].
Vermont: The Vermont Institute of Natural Science held a BioBlitz in 2004 at Hartford. See [6]
New York: A BioBlitz at Central Park found more than 800 species in 2003. See [7]
Massachusetts: 2006 collaboration between the Boston Museum of Science and the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History. The first bioblitz in a series sponsored by the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation. The first bioblitz to utilize CyberTracker and NatureMapping technologies for data collection.
New York: Central Park. 2006. In collaboration with the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation, the Explorer's Club, the American Museum of Natural History and the Boston Museum of Science. This is the first bioblitz in history to incorporate the collection and analysis of Microorganisms.
Maryland/DC/Virginia, 2006: The Nature Conservancy sponsored a Potomac Gorge BioBlitz where more than 130 field biologists and experienced naturalists volunteered their expertise in an effort to see how many species they could find. During a 30-hour survey period from Saturday, June 24, through Sunday, June 25 their surveys revealed more than 1,000 species. See[8]