Chances are, you have no idea what a BioBlitz is.
According to National Geographic — one of the principal endorsing agencies of BioBlitzes nationwide — “A BioBlitz is an event that focuses on finding and identifying as many species as possible in a specific area over a short period of time. At a BioBlitz, scientists, families, students, teachers and other community members work together to get an overall count of the plants, animals, fungi and other organisms that live in a place.”
In other words, a BioBlitz organizes people and has them tromp around nature in an organized fashion, collecting wildlife so that each species can be identified. Typically they occur at national or state parks in concert with local authorities.
On Saturday, May 21, a BioBlitz will take place at Montezuma Well, a part of Montezuma Castle National Monument. The Montezuma Well BioBlitz will focus on collecting and identifying invertebrates — anything from spiders and butterflies to aquatic creatures such as snails and crawdads.
Collected data from concurrent BioBlitzes will be gathered and broadcast at the Biodiversity Festival on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
Prior to this event, however, the park is reaching out to the community to find citizen scientists.
“I’m really excited,” Montezuma Castle National Monument Park Guide Laura Varon-Burkhart said. “It’s to get the public involved. It doesn’t matter what your background is. You could even show up not knowing what an invertebrate is.”
She said that while Montezuma Castle and Montezuma Well have conducted BioBlitzes in the past, nothing of this extent with such public participation has been attempted. The park is looking for several volunteers from the age of 14 and up to join the effort. Volunteers will be divided into teams of five and guided by researchers and park rangers. Volunteers can choose to collect water creatures or stay on dry land.
Admitting the ecological and archaeological importance of the terrain around the well, Varon-Burkhart said that organizers are keeping the groups — many led by Northern Arizona University researchers and graduate students — small to ensure the security of the fragile grounds and avoid particularly sensitive areas. Nonetheless, she said there is a lot of ground to cover, a lot of animals to log.
“It’s kind of like a 24-hour snapshot of what’s going on in the park ecologically,” Varon-Burkhart said.
| Montezuma Well BioBlitz |
| The National Park Service is planning a shared nationwide quest to discover and document biodiversity. Individuals 14 years and older are invited to be part of the celebration at Montezuma Well on Saturday, May 21. Volunteers can sign up for the 9 a.m. to noon session or the 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. session. Applications will be taken from through Saturday, May 14, on on a first-come, first-served basis. Online reservations are mandatory for this free event. Visit eventbrite.com and search for “Montezuma Well” to register. An informational packet with what to expect and how to prepare for the event will be e-mailed to each participant upon reservation. |
