This summer, on June 20 and 21, Audubon Wyoming, along with Laramie Audubon and Murie Audubon and a number of resource agencies and other non-profit organizations will be hosting its first annual “BioBlitz event” in the Shirley Basin.  Bring your friends and family.  Have you ever held a bat?  Or identified bugs under the light of the moon?  This might be the perfect thing for you….

What is it?/Background:

A BioBlitz brings together scientists from various organizations and agencies in a race against time to see how many species they can count in a 24-hour biological survey. The public is invited to observe, interact and participate in the sampling activities. AW’s “BioBlitz” will be a 24-hour event in which teams of scientists, volunteers, and community members join forces to find, identify, and learn about as many local plant, insect and animal species as possible.  AW will be using the BioBlitz as a way for communities to learn about the biological diversity of their local lands (public and private ranches) and to better understand how to protect them. AW plans to hold one BioBlitz within an identified Important Bird Area (IBA), specifically The Shirley Basin/Bates Hole IBA.  We believe the BioBlitz event will give us an excellent base-line inventory within one of our priority IBAs, which encompass several of Wyoming’s species of critical conservation (developed by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department) and their related habitats.

In addition to establishing baseline information, the BioBlitz event will be an opportunity for adults, children, and teens to join biologists in the field, participate in bona fide research expeditions, and learn from experts about inventorying and the importance of biodiversity.

The projects objectives are:

• Collect baseline presence/absence data on birds, plants, mammals and insects inhabiting the Shirley Basin/Bates Hole situated within critical sagebrush habitat.

• Use the baseline information to establish monitoring protocol specific and effective at determining changes to specific wildlife or plant species.  Long-term monitoring plans are necessary to investigate changes in abundance or diversity resulting from habitat enhancement projects (phase 3 of the IBA goal process).

• Help build a volunteer base for future monitoring and restoration projects within the area.

• Build awareness in the local communities about the ecosystem that surrounds them and why we should be conserving the habitat and wildlife.

• Build interest in local schools concerning science programs and the importance of conservation of our natural resources.

As expressed in the objectives, our target audience will be local communities; within those communities we will be working and involving local high school students, other NGOs, state and federal agency members, and University members.

In a nutshell we hope the outcome of our BioBlitz will be:

• Fun.  The child naturalist within knows that crawling around in the woods and fields looking at plants and animals is about as good as it gets.

• Brings out the Specialists. A one day event, especially one surrounded by colleagues and other naturalists, is about the only way that a local area can get good taxonomic information for some groups of species.

• Identifying Rare and Unique Species/Groups. By bringing together the best in the field, their insights can be used to identify uncommon or special habitats for protection and management. In some cases rare species may be uncovered.

• Documenting Species Occurrence. The lists of species generated for the site, while incomplete, are an excellent starting place for inventories. With such talent in place information will be added even for well covered species such as birds.

• Media Attention! Bring together an eclectic stew of ornithologists, herpetologists, entomologists, and botanists. Sprinkle well with other suspected misanthropes and you will have reporters eating out your hand.

• Natural History Synergy. Naturalists are often isolated within larger agencies or departments. Getting out into the field with folks from other fields, leads to new insights, and presents possibilities for further interaction.

We do not expect of the BioBlitz:

• A Complete Inventory. A one day event cannot come near to documenting all the species present. The species pool changes throughout the year, so no matter what day is chosen, species will be missed.

• Basis for Monitoring. Repeating a Blitz on the same day each year should not be thought of as a means of tracking change over time. The loose nature of participants, the vagaries of species detection, weather, observer skill, and many other factors all conspire to limit the usefulness of among year comparisons. However, repeated blitzes will add to the accumulated species inventory and are a good means for identifying groups that would benefit from a more formal monitoring program.

This project is made possible by the TogetherGreen Grant.  Interested members of the public will rendezvous between 10AM and 12pm at the Shirley Basin Reservoir campsite on June 20 for the event.  Participants are urged to contact Audubon Wyoming for more information and to sign up for the event.  (Members of the public may sign up by calling or e-mailing Alison Holloran or Mac Blewer at (307) 745-4848; aholloran@audubon.org or mblewer@audubon.org)