BioBlitzes
The Colorado Natural Heritage has coordinated and participated in numerous BioBlitzes!
Boreal toad (Anaxyrus boreas pop. 1)
Colorado hookless cactus
Plot layout with many helping hands
See the videos below for a BioBlitz primer:
What is a BioBlitz?
A BioBlitz is an intensive period of biological surveying in which teams of scientists, students, teachers, and other community members work together to find, identify, and record all the living species within a designated area.
Tools used to collect data
ipad/tablet apps, smartphone apps, gps units, digital cameras, drone cameras
Where are data cataloged and stored?
- iNaturalist online repository
- Picture Post online repository
- Herbaria (plant specimen collections)
- Colorado Natural Heritage Program’s BIOTICS database
- Google Maps
How data are used in the future?
- As baseline knowledge of the land for the owners to make management decisions
- Data may contribute to long range data sets to study ecological change
- Helps to create a deeper understanding of the landscape
- Discoveries can help inform management across property boundaries
Products of BioBlitz:
- A complete species list
- Maps of vegetation and conservation priorities
- Photographs
- Continuation of photo points using Picture Post
- Plant specimens that are deposited in herbaria
- Other specimens of animals (mostly arthropods) that are deposited at appropriate institutions in Colorado
- A book documenting the Bioblitz and its findings, and placing the natural heritage resources of the properties into context
- Multi-media storytelling piece(s) (video, audio, photos)
Next BioBlitz Spring 2020
