Tag archives for BioBlitz
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As part of the 2011 BioBlitz in Saguaro National Park, NG Explorer-in-Residence J. Michael Fay walked some 70 miles over seven days on a transect across park and city, noting all the plants and animals along the way. Experience the whole exhilarating journey for yourself.
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By Sean O’Connor Artificial lights flood the night sky, making the urban and suburban lives that so many of us live a little brighter, but not necessarily for the better. Light pollution also drowns out the sea of stars shining through our atmosphere. Who doesn’t love to look up at the night sky and…
Michael Conway of the Arizona Geological Survey was on hand at the recent BioBlitz in Arizona’s Saguaro National Park to teach students, scientists, and bloggers about something many of us don’t readily associate with a 24-hour inventory of all the species we could find in the preserve: the rocks and soil. To get a better…
Meg Quinn, of Pima County Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation, talked to me at the recent BioBlitz in the Saguaro National Park about the scourge that’s blighting much of the Sonoran Desert of Arizona — a tough alien grass that’s taken hold and threatening the native ecosystem.
Margi Brooks of the National Natural Landmarks Program was on hand at the recent BioBlitz in Saguaro National Park to promote an extensive system of natural heritage preservation that not many Americans know about. The National Natural Landmarks Program was started in 1962, so getting ready to celebrate its 50th anniversary, Brooks told me. It’s…
Kevin FitzPatrick is a wildlife conservation photographer who specializes in shooting BioBlitzes. I found him at the 2011 BioBlitz in the Saguaro National Park, Arizona, where he told me why he has developed a passion for documenting the special species count in our national parks.
The University of Arizona mascot is the Wild Cat, or bobcat, so it is only fitting that the university is involved in research and conservation initiatives for the benefit of wild cats all over the world. “Our mission is to conserve and research all 36 species of wild cats worldwide,” Lisa Haynes, of the University…
Chris Grinter is with the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco, He recently joined the 2011 BioBlitz in Arizona’s Saguaro National Park, where he and colleagues identified some 145 species of moths in the preserve. The specimens included moths as small as a pinhead, others much larger, and at least one alien species that…
Cecil Manuel, of the Cecil B. Manuel Inter-Tribal Dancers, shared his cultural and spiritual knowledge at the recent BioBlitz in Saguaro National Park. Among the dances he demonstrated was the Hoop Dance. “There are so many different stories that we tell about the dances. Different tribes have different versions of how they came about,” he…
During the recent BioBlitz in the Saguaro National park, Arizona, we met two members of the Tucson Herpetological Society: Robert Villa and Hanna Strauss. The Tucson Herp Society is dedicated to conservation, education and research concerning the amphibians and reptiles of Arizona and Mexico. Villa and Strauss were at the BioBlitz with two species of…
A two-week sampling of flies in the Saguaro National Park yielded hundreds of specimens, many of them yet to be described scientifically. John Francis, National Geographic’s Vice President for Research, Conservation, and Exploration, talked to Mike Irwin at the recent BioBlitz in the park.
This fifth Vodcast from the 2011 BioBlitz in Tucson, Arizona, features the unveiling of the final tally of species.
The 24-hour BioBlitz in Arizona’s Saguaro National Park last weekend added more than 400 species to park lists, including 190 species of invertebrates and 205 species of fungi previously unknown to the park, the National Geographic Society said in a news announcement today.
With the growing urbanization of the U.S., connecting students to the National Parks right in their own backyards in urban areas is important not only for the whole national park system but also for protecting ecosystems, whether they are in the parks or not, says Lois Morrison, executive director of the Harold M. and Adeline S. Morrison Family Foundation.
Saguaro National Park, Arizona–How do scientists find scorpions and certain other crawling animals in the dark, when a great many animals big and small are out and about in the desert night? They use a special light which makes the scorpions glow bright green, like the numerals on a watch. Paul Marek, an entomologist at…
By Bob Hirshon, American Association for the Advancement of Science Saguaro National Park, Arizona–Tardigrades, or “water bears,” are tiny creatures so bizarre that they have their own phylum. They’re found in a diverse range of environments. A team from Baker University in Kansas came to the 2011 BioBlitz in Saguaro National Park to see if…
By Bob Hirshon, American Association for the Advancement of Science Saguaro National Park, Arizona–One of the coolest things about the BioBlitz, held this year in Saguaro National Park, is that it brings kids and scientists together. In this third BioBlitz “BobCast,” I go on a nighttime insect inventory, out in the desert, with entomologists and…
By Bob Hirshon, American Association for the Advancement of Science Saguaro National Park, Arizona–Not all of the organisms being counted at the BioBlitz are big and visible, like birds and snakes. Scientists are also surveying microscopic species, like the fungi in this video. Fungi make all sorts of useful compounds, and finding new ones could…
When the clock stopped at noon on Saturday, more than 170 scientists and 2,000 students had collected or identified 859 species in the 94,000-acre park.
USGS herpetologist Cecil Schwalbe is a popular scientist at the Saguaro National Park BioBlitz. He demonstrates some of the charismatic reptiles found in the park, including a venomous lizard, a snake-eating snake, and a tortoise that survives the desert drought by holding in its pee and poop.
Verizon Wireless boosted network capacity for thousands of laptops, phones and other devices to shuttle enormous amounts of data between the Internet and Saguaro National Park near Tucson this weekend. It’s what’s enabling 150 scientists and thousands of students to make a comprehensive survey of all living things in the park — the 2011 BioBlitz. John Johnson of Verizon Wireless talks about how his company makes it happen in real time.
Project Noah is an awesome social media website that takes your wildlife encounters and puts them online to share with people all around the world, says David Munson, director of education for the project.
In this interview, John Francis, National Geographic’s Vice President for Research, Conservation and Exploration, explains why the 10 BioBlitzes in a special series hosted by National Geographic and the National Park Service are always in parks near large urban areas. “We’re trying to awaken people who don’t really understand their deep connection with nature,” he says. “Sometimes in the urban setting you don’t get out into nature. But there are parks around the country that are close to the city, and we want to get the schoolchildren and the families into the park, to get them to be with those who really know it and love it and get them bitten by the bug that’s so exciting about loving nature.”
How Bob Hirshon of the American Association for the Advancement of Science reported today’s BioBlitz in the Saguaro National Park, Arizona.
Saguaro National Park, Arizona–Jamie Trevillyan is the Arts Coordinator for Saguaro National Park. A community project she worked on for the 2011 BioBlitz in the park — hosted this weekend by National Geographic and the National Park Service — was aimed at both young and retired people. Some 200 groups (local schools and retirement centers)…
