Science Spotlight: Up Close at the BioBlitzes

Conducting Field Work

BioBlitz (by-o-blitz), n. An up-close ecological inventory event performed with the aid of volunteer experts; a snapshot of the biodiversity of a certain tract of land.

As we started conservation planning for our Vickie Bunnell Preserve in Columbia and Stratford, we considered the following question: How do we document critical conservation targets on our new 18,540-acre preserve in just one summer? The answer: We organize a BioBlitz . . . or, better yet, two BioBlitzes!

Just what, you ask, is a BioBlitz? The concept is fairly simple: Get as many volunteer expert field scientists as possible on the land over a short period of time, ask them to do what they do best (record the ecological attributes in the woods), feed them, house them, and make sure they have fun. The Nature Conservancy benefits from the information collected, while the field ecologists get a chance to interact with colleagues, friends, past students, and partners in an informal setting for a good cause.

The first step in implementing the June 24-26 and August 16-18 BioBlitzes was to hire a graduate student to tackle the planning and research tasks. Luckily, the Field Naturalist Graduate Program at the University of Vermont has a program where graduate students seeking their Master's Degrees can undertake projects that both serve a non-profit organization's need for conservation and can serve as the raw material for a Master's Thesis. Willard Morgan, a student in the program, came on board, moved to Colebrook, and started to plan the two BioBlitzes. By living in Colebrook, Willard put a friendly face on The Nature Conservancy and forged new relationships in the local community that will help us protect this remarkable new preserve long into the future.

One local contact Willard met up with was Steve Earley, Director of People Against Violent Episodes (PAVE). PAVE is a local, non-profit organization whose mission is to provide space for community programs that reduce violence in the community. PAVE was established in response to the 1997 murders in Colebrook that took the lives of four prominent officials, including Judge Vickie Bunnell. It was especially poignant to connect with PAVE, considering our work was focused at the Vickie Bunnell Preserve. Steve offered us the space and facilities of PAVE, an old IGA Supermarket, from which to run the BioBlitzes. Between long field days in the preserve, volunteers slept, ate, looked at maps, and caught up with old friends and colleagues on the checkerboard floors of the old grocery store.

As our BioBlitzes drew to a close, many of the volunteers commented that the best part of the event was that the people made it fun. Old friends experienced a camaraderie that made the whole event more than just a collection of data in the woods. People came together for a common cause and energized the spirit of protecting this incredible landscape. The Nature Conservancy also benefited in unexpected ways. We not only documented many more species than we thought possible, but we made many friends in the area, and those relationships will continue to grow over the years.

Clearly, the BioBlitzes were a great success by all accounts. Here are some of our preliminary results:

62 total staff and volunteers attended the two BioBlitzes over a six-day period.
Expert scientist volunteers represented 34 affiliations, including experts from five universities, nine non-profit organizations, eight different local, state, or federal agencies, and ten private freelance scientists.
In all, we benefited from over 1,000 hours of volunteer service.
We recorded four brand new rare plant records, including Bailey's sedge, variegated horsetail, northern wild licorice, and lily-leaved twayblade.
We confirmed several critical wildlife species including Bicknell's thrush, pine marten, and several species of stream salamanders.
We found a lichen species called tinder polypore that only grows in areas with high air quality.
We documented old growth forest conditions in several high and mid-elevation forests, and recorded the presence and condition of multiple exemplary forest, wetland, and aquatic natural communities.

Where do we go from here? The knowledge derived from the BioBlitzes will inform long-term conservation planning and stewardship at The Nature Conservancy's Vickie Bunnell Preserve and on adjoining protected lands. With the information and maps that Willard Morgan will produce for his Master's Thesis, we will know, for example, which habitats to protect for wildlife, which rare plants need ecological monitoring over the long-term, which roads need up-keep for access, and which roads may need restoration to allow forest soils and stream systems to recover.

The true measure of the success of our BioBlitz campaign came when volunteers told us: "You should do this every year. I'd come back!" Stay tuned for more news about this, and future efforts to get our hands dirty in the woods in the name of good conservation.