Bioblitz near Portland, Oregon

R.J. Cannings & M. Holm mholm at vip.net
Fri May 26 00:42:56 EDT 2000


John et al:

The final total here was 683 (the plant people added a few more...).  I'd
like to get some good moth and bug people involved next year and gun for
1000.

Cheers,

Dick Cannings
1330 Debeck Road
S11, C96, RR#1
Naramata, BC   V0H 1N0
CANADA

(250) 496-4049
----- Original Message -----
From: John Acorn <janature at compusmart.ab.ca>
To: <ecosys at pacbell.net>; <leps-l at lists.yale.edu>
Cc: <mholm at vip.net>
Sent: Thursday, May 25, 2000 9:31 PM
Subject: Re: Bioblitz near Portland, Oregon


> Lepsters,
>
> Jeffrey Caldwell mentioned a bioblitz, and since I just got back from one,
> associated with the Meadowlark Festival in Penticton, British Columbia,
> Canada, I thought I would give my impressions.  We tallied about 602
species
> (final count not yet in), and did a great deal, I hope, to raise local
> awareness of the rich diversity in the Okanagan region of Canada.  I
hosted
> a wrap-up count-call event, in which we had musical entertainment
> interspersed with reports on the numbers of species we identified in
various
> taxa.  People seemed to enjoy it, and found it interesting to hear from
> naturalists in a variety of fields.
>
> Two years back I was involved in another, as part of the Texas Tropics
> Nature Festival, in McAllen, Texas, and there we counted 997 species.  I
> think the main determinant of your total number is the amount of botanical
> and entomological expertise you have on hand.  The birders and butterfly
> people pretty well know how many species they will find before the event
> transpires, and between them it's tough to beat 300.  If you have good
moth
> people, another hundred might be added.  Past that, and you have to rely
on
> things like fungi, flowers, and beetles.  2000 sounds like a tough number
to
> me.  These events are a lot of fun, and they really do challenge you to
make
> quick, accurate identifications in the field, at whatever level you can
> muster.
>
> John Acorn
> Alberta, Canada
>


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