BioBlitz Will Uncover All Creatures Great and Small

Outdoor Event at the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge to Assess
Land & Water Quality, Build Environmental Awareness

Basking Ridge, NJ — The Great Swamp Watershed Association in partnership with the Friends of Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is holding “BioBlitz 2009” — a biennial 24-hour snapshot survey of anything that swims, walks, flies, crawls or grows — at the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge starting the evening of Friday, May 15, and concluding at 5 p.m. on Saturday, May 16. The public is invited to participate in many planned outdoor activities during the BioBlitz, which is described as part contest, festival, educational experience and scientific endeavor.

“The presence or absence of certain species can say a lot about the health and functionality of the land,” explains Great Swamp Watershed Association Director of Outreach and Education Hazel England. “The greater the number of species contained in a habitat, despite human encroachment, the healthier the environment. Findings will help us assess the biological diversity of the area and ultimately get a handle on its overall environmental health.”

The public is invited to mingle with teams of scientists, nature clubs and government wildlife agencies as they comb a designated portion of the Refuge to uncover as many wildlife species as possible with the 24-hour survey period. While there are no guarantees as to what scientists will find, the hourly results will be posted at the BioBlitz hub at the Friends of Great Swamp Bookstore & Gift Shop, so you can see the species tally and watch a revolving slideshow of the creatures found. A combination of displays, walks and talks will acquaint attendees with how turtles are radio-tracked through the swamps of the refuge, how to identify frogs by their calls, the diversity of bats within the refuge and much more. “BioBlitz is a great opportunity to introduce children to the sciences and to excite their natural curiosity. It is also a great way to raise public awareness about the range of biodiversity in an area and its relationship to the health of the community’s environment,” suggests Ms. England.

Public activities kick off at 6 p.m. on Friday, May 15, with a Frog Call Survey — which frogs and toads are calling — followed by an informative program about bats, and an Owl Prowl to call out the variety of owls present in the Refuge. Activities continue on Saturday, May 16, beginning at 7 a.m. and include birding walks, insect discovery hikes, wildflower walks, presentations on birds of prey, and more. Families may conduct their own Mini BioBlitz using guided materials and their own observation skills to identify plants and animals along the trails. Prizes will be awarded for each completed Mini BioBlitz survey.

All public programs are offered first come, first served on the day of the event. The public portion of BioBlitz 2009 concludes at 2 p.m. with a closing ceremony, a mountain bike raffle and presentations by participating scientists who will announce their findings and explain their research methods.

Additionally, BioBlitz curriculum materials are available to local schools. Students are invited to conduct their own research and share their findings with the watershed association for publication on their website. “This is a great chance for local area students to see how real science works, and to take part in their own surveys to discover what lives in their very own schoolyards,” says Dorothy Smullen, a retired teacher and member of Friends of Great Swamp and the Great Swamp Watershed Association. BioBlitz education materials can be downloaded from the GSWA website at www.greatswamp.org.

The central check-in point for BioBlitz 2009 is the Friends of Great Swamp Bookstore & Gift Shop at 197 Pleasant Plains Road in Basking Ridge, NJ. Visit www.greatswamp.org for more information on this year’s event, including the full schedule of public programs.

To help support BioBlitz, Great Swamp Watershed Association is holding the Great BioBlitz Raffle. Don’t miss the opportunity to win one of three great prizes, all for a ticket price of $20. The grand prize is a brand new Trek Series 3900 adult mountain bike. The second prize is a pair of Legacy binoculars, and the third prize is an MP3 player. Tickets may be purchased in advance (by visiting www.greatswamp.org) or at the BioBlitz. But hurry, only 120 tickets will be sold! The drawing will take place at 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 16. Proceeds benefit GSWA’s scientific and educational programs.

 

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Founded in 1981, the Great Swamp Watershed Association is a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving and protecting the water and land of the 36,000-acre watershed region in Morris and Somerset counties. The organization works to maintain the beauty and health of open space, and to monitor and protect five streams: Loantaka Brook, Great Brook, Primrose Brook, Black Brook, and the Upper Passaic — which feed into the Passaic River and providing drinking water to more than a million people.
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