With sturdy hiking boots and clipboards in hand, people who know their flora from their fauna are preparing to fan across beaches, forests and wild spaces of Metchosin for a census, of sorts.
They plan to count everything B次元官网网址� every plant, fungi, lichen, insect, bird and hoofed animal. Everything that grows, moves or has a pulse. ItB次元官网网址檚 an ambitious undertaking and aptly named the Metchosin B次元官网网址淏ioBlitz,B次元官网网址� and it's due to launch on April 30.
The event organizers aim to inventory as many living things as possible within 24 hours, and provide a biodiversity baseline for future blitzes. But itB次元官网网址檚 also meant to educate the public and drive home the notion that people share the local landscape with thousands of plants and animals, some rare, some endangered.
B次元官网网址淲e want the people of Metchosin to realize where they live and how special it is. WeB次元官网网址檝e got some of the rarest habitats in Canada B次元官网网址� coastal Douglas firs, Garry oaks exist here,B次元官网网址� says Metchosin Coun. Moralea Milne. B次元官网网址淭here is very little Garry oak ecosystems left. ThereB次元官网网址檚 no room to lose anymore.B次元官网网址�
Milne and fellow Metchosin residents Kem Luther, and Andy MacKinnon, a research ecologist with the B.C. Forestry Service, have rounded up more than 50 plant and animal experts for the blitz B次元官网网址� taxonomists who know the difference between a pteridium aquilinum (bracken fern) and a polystichum munitum (swordfern), and a sciurus griseus (grey squirrel) from a tamiasciurus hudsonicus (red squirrel).
B次元官网网址淚n Victoria you donB次元官网网址檛 have to go far afield to get the best (experts) in the province. A lot live on south Vancouver Island,B次元官网网址� MacKinnon says. B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檝e got a lot of provincial experts, some from (the University of Victoria), and a number of very skilled amateur naturalists.B次元官网网址�
ItB次元官网网址檚 impractical for the BioBlitzers to cover the 71 square kilometres that make up Metchosin in one day or even a few days, so theyB次元官网网址檝e selected specific areas flush with life and accessible to the public.
BioBlitzers will survey parks such as Devonian, WittyB次元官网网址檚 Lagoon and Matheson Lake. Birders are heading out at dawn to prime bird-watching vantage points, and owlers will prowl the forests after dark.
Some ecologists will strike out on small, non-public expeditions, where large groups would frighten animals or likely trample plant life. Members of the South Vancouver Island Mycological Society, for one, will have their noses to the ground in search for fungi.
B次元官网网址淲e need to watch where we send large numbers of people,B次元官网网址� says Milne, who has surveyed Metchosin plants and butterflies in the past. B次元官网网址淲e want people to go to places that can handle a crowd.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 a great free community event,B次元官网网址� MacKinnon adds. B次元官网网址淓xperts love being out working with kids and families. Kids get to go out with people genuinely fascinated by things like slugs.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 science, education and entertainment,B次元官网网址� remarks Luther, who is a keen amateur expert in fungi and mosses.
The concept of a BioBlitz came out of the U.S. National Park Service in the mid-1990s and have been conducted across the U.S., the U.K., Australia and New Zealand. Beacon Hill Park in Victoria underwent the regionB次元官网网址檚 last BioBlitz in 2007.
Marilyn Fuchs, a biologist with CRD parks, says BioBlitzes in Whistler have discovered previously unknown species of plants and insects.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 a good way to get people inspired about biodiversity and learn how diverse habitats can be,B次元官网网址� Fuchs says. B次元官网网址淔or (CRD) parks it dovetails with our mission, itB次元官网网址檚 good to see people get excited about the natural world.B次元官网网址�
Milne, MacKinnon and Luther hatched MetchosinB次元官网网址檚 BioBlitz after conducting more than 40 free B次元官网网址渨alk and talkB次元官网网址� community events, where an environmental expert would speak on a topic on a Friday night, and then lead a related trek in the wilderness on Saturday morning.
B次元官网网址淭he time is right to do a BioBlitz. WeB次元官网网址檝e been doing the walk-and-talk for so long, we thought we needed something else to educate the public,B次元官网网址� says Milne, the originator of the walk-and talk-program.
B次元官网网址淜ids need to learn that adults get paid to go and play like this,B次元官网网址� MacKinnon says laughing, B次元官网网址渁nd that mosses and fungi are cool.B次元官网网址�
The Capital Regional District, the District of Metchosin and the Metchosin Foundation are sponsoring the BioBlitz, which will allow organizers to give B次元官网网址渟wag bagsB次元官网网址� to the volunteer experts. The lists of plant and animal species found in Metchosin will be published on the website about a month after the blitz.
The Metchosin BioBlitz is April 30, and based out of the Metchosin Community House, 4430 Happy Valley Rd. See metchosinbiodiversity.com for the schedule of public expeditions and for more information.
Groups are scheduled to leave at 6 a.m. (birders), 9 a.m., 2 p.m. and 9 p.m. (owlers). A talk at the Metchosin municipal hall is scheduled for 7 p.m.
editor@goldstreamgazette.com
