- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
A BioBlitz is set from 9 to 11 a.m., Saturday, April 29 in the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden. It's being hosted by UC Davis doctoral student Grace Horne of the Department of Entomology and Nematology.
Participants will meet in at the Wyatt Deck (previously the BioBlitz was scheduled for the Carolee Shields White Flower Garden and Gazebo.)
"I am excited about the location change because we will be located next to two biodiversity hubs: The T. Elliot Weier Redwood Grove and the Mary Wattis Brown Garden of California Native Plants," said Horne, a member of the laboratory of urban landscape entomologist Emily Meineke, assistant professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology.
Reservations (free) are underway here.
“We need your help to track and identify the wildlife in Davis!" said Horne, a member of the laboratory of urban landscape entomologist Emily Meineke, assistant professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology. "Participants will take photos of plants, animals, and fungi, and upload these observations to the community science platform, iNaturalist. All you need to bring is a smartphone or a photo-taking device. We will have a table with small lenses, bug boxes, field guides, insect specimens, and more to help you make observations of wildlife. Local experts will also be available to assist in identifying the wildlife."
This event will be hosted in coordination with the City Nature Challenge Sacramento. The City Nature Challenge (CNC) is an annual international competition among cities with the goal of documenting the most biodiversity within a four-day period.
This year the challenge will occur from April 28 to May 1, "so any observations of wildlife that are uploaded to iNaturalist will contribute to the 2023 CNC," Horne said. "At the end of the CNC, the region with the most observations wins. We are looking to make as many quality observations as we can during the Davis Bioblitz, so stop by the Shields Gazebo to help contribute observations to the Greater Sacramento Region!”
Horne's undergraduate thesis about the effects of the decline of ash trees on native caterpillars, scored the cover of the February edition of the journal Environmental Entomology. The paper, “Specialist Herbivore Performance on Introduced Plants During Native Host Decline,” is co-authored by Ria Manderino of the Oak Spring Garden Foundation, Upperville, VA and Samuel Jaffe of The Caterpillar Lab, Marlborough, N.H. “Our publication highlights the importance of multispecies assessments of host plant acceptance,” said Horne, who studies plant-insect interactions, urban ecology, global change biology, natural history and community science in the Meineke lab.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
And trying to save it from development.
Scientists and citizen-scientists will gather Sunday, June 1 in the western highlands of the Oakland park to conduct a "bioblitz"--or a tally of the biodiversity of animals and plants living there.
"The Oakland Zoo is planning to bulldoze and build upon 56 acres of the most sensitive habitat, which will demolish pristine stands of maritime chaparral and native grasses, destroy over 50 mature trees including heritage oaks, and fence out wildlife that depends on this land to survive," said Constance Taylor of www.wildoakland.org in a news release issued today.
"Rare maritime chaparral and native grasslands alongside coastal scrub and oak woodlands comprise interconnected ecosystems with spectacular diversity: Hundreds of species of lichen, moss, and fungi (including a 100+ year-old giant puffball “fairy ring”), fields of wildflowers and many other California native plants, from ground cover to shrubs and trees," she said.
"These habitats sustain a multitude of wildlife species—insects, reptiles (including the federal and state protected Alameda whipsnake), resident and migratory birds, and an array of mammals—from the lowly dusky-footed woodrat (a California Species of Special Concern) to the top of the food chain, our native mountain lion."
And insects? "Yes, we are definitely looking for bugs," said bioblitz leader/entomologist Eddie Dunbar, founder and president of the Insect Sciences Museum of California (ISMC). "The same evening we will be sheetlighting for nightflying insects. Moths will be out, of course. However, it has been suggested that there may be a vernal kind of riparian area. If so, we want to see what aquatics we can attract. Also, there would be sampling during the day for aquatics, if they are there. During the day we will sweep, beat, poot, and check underneath ground debris for insects. We want to make a case that this area deserves protection."
One of ISMC's many activities is to conduct surveys of Northern California insect ecosystems. Clients participate in field surveys, learning contemporary science techniques and using authentic science equipment. Survey findings are published into regionally specific web guides, searchable photographic databases, and geographically relevant science learning aids. Learning aids are developed, distributed and modeled by ISMC staff.
Entomology graduate and undergraduate students and enthusiasts at the University of California, Davis, are expected to be among those participating. Dunbar hopes that the participants will find many insects, including native bees. Anyone interested in helping out can email Eddie Dunbar at eddie@bugpeople.org.
Further information:
Learn more about Knowland Park and the proposed zoo expansion at www.saveknowland.org
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