MountainTrue launches Bioblitz to crown champion of Biodiversity the Southern Blue Ridge
MountainTrue is kicking off its annual 2022 Bioblitz with an in-person event at the Glover Street parking lot at Jackson Park in Hendersonville on Saturday, June 4. The event is an opportunity for experts and aspiring naturalists to get outside together and add to the scientific record by documenting the vast biodiversity of the region, according to a news release from MountainTrue.
The MountianTrue Bioblitz is a regional competition to crown the Southern Blue Ridge biodiversity champion. The wider competition takes place virtually across one county in each of MountainTrue's four regions from June 4-19. This year's Bioblitz counties are Clay, Henderson, Madison and Watauga counties. To sign up and learn more, visit mountaintrue.org/2022-bioblitz
The event, which takes place from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m., is a way to meet other naturalists and nature lovers and to get tips and pointers from MountainTrue staff on how to use the iNaturalist app, the release says.
The wider four-county competition kicks off on Saturday, June 4 on the iNaturalist web and smartphone platform. Scores will be tallied for each county and for individual participants, with prizes and bragging rights for the winners.
Each week, a winner will be selected for the best observation of the week. People can make observations (photos or audio recordings) of species everywhere from in their backyards and streets to remote wilderness areas. The County Champion of Biodiversity will be recognized as the county that receives the most observations of unique species. Additional recognition will go to the county with the most participants and the most observations submitted.
“The MountainTrue 2022 Bioblitz is a great opportunity for people to connect with and learn about the natural world around them,” explains MountainTrue Public Lands Biologist Josh Kelly. “By expanding the blitz to four counties and making a game of it, we hope to be able to engage more people and find more species. We might even find some that have never been recorded in our region.”
MountainTrue first took its Bioblitz to iNaturalist in 2020 as a safer alternative during COVID-19. During the second virtual Bioblitz in 2021, participants made 2,890 observations of 1,643 unique species. This year, MountainTrue hopes to recruit more bioblitzers and record even more species and make a greater contribution to the scientific record for the region.
This article originally appeared on Hendersonville Times-News: MountainTrue launches Bioblitz to crown champion of Biodiversity the Southern Blue Ridge
