BioBlitzes are citizen science biodiversity events focused on documenting as many species possible over a short burst of time. Although often only 24 hours long, the first City Nature Challenge BioBlitz between San Francisco and Los Angeles stretched over a week, April 14 through 21. On Earth Day, Los Angeles County was announced as the winner with 10,456 observations of 1,615 species from 399 people. SF Bay Area reported 9,939 observations of 1,607 species from 491 people (note that SF reported only 8 fewer species than LA).
Observations included both common and rare species and may provide new occurrence records.
In the San Francisco Bay Area, the most-observed species was the California poppy, and 4 out of the 5 most-observed species were California native plants. In LA County, the most observed species was the Western Fence Lizard, and the next four most documented species are all non-natives.
The week-long BioBlitz does more than increase biodiversity data, it motivates people to be out looking closely at nature and sharing observations. People talk about the plants, animals and other organisms (such as lichens), which enhances their interest in the natural world.
And some people learn to love gopher snakes.
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During the BioBlitz, San Francisco reported the Mission Blue Butterfly, one of the first insects ever listed by the federal Endangered Species Act in 1976. Although once common in Marin, San Francisco and San Mateo counties, it is now limited to a few sites due to habitat loss. Mission Blue is a great example of a species who suffers because their needs conflict with humans. Larvae of this butterfly feed only on lupines, a plant that thrives with regular wildfires — an event urban human residents don’t appreciate.
San Bruno Mountain State Park in San Mateo County, where the Mission Blue was documented in the BioBlitz, has 2,000 acres of coastal scrub habitat restored and managed for the butterfly and is one of the only habitat areas not on private land (thus has more protection and won’t shouldn’t be sold).
The UK National Trust has sponsored BioBlitzes and produced a video explaining them.
Announcements of future BioBlitzes, including Cuyahoga Valley Ohio, along the Arkansas River corridor in Colorado, and another in Brompton Cemetery London in May, can be found at #BioBlitz and #CitSciDay on Twitter. National Citizen Science Day is occurring right now through May 21 and more events are listed on SciStarter.
In addition to the LA/SF challenge, other BioBlitzes were held around the world in association with Earth Day 2016.
Texas
scotland
italy
I’d love to meet at the Villa Borghese in Rome for this BioBlitz. Also, I wonder where that red-beaked parrot (Indian ring-neck?) lives in Rome. A BioBlitz criterion is to not document domestic animals, so he must be feral or born wild. The Italian citizen science app and website is called Progetto LIFE+ CSMON-LIFE (Project Life and Citizen Science Life).
(roman lichen!)
ENGLAND
canada
iNATURE app and citizen science
The City Nature Challenge and other BioBlitzes organize throughiNaturalist.org, a website and app from California Academy of Science. It is a worldwide online citizen science community for nature observations and discussions. The app also offers assistance in creating your own BioBlitz and how to coordinate data submissions for an event.
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