BioBlitz
Please use the space below to reflect on your experience at BioBlitz at the New York Botanical Garden.
Here are few questions to consider while formulating your responses: What did you learn about the taxon you were observing and recording? Did you make any particular observations concerning the way in which your specimens fit into the larger ecosystem of the garden? What kinds of methods were employed to capture the specimens and record information? What are some of the ethical considerations when doing this kind of research?
For BioBlitz, I joined the Plants group and went to the edge of the forest to examine different plants. From a previous field trip experience and from my knowledge of biology, I was able to spot a few species of plants like poison ivy (which has the characteristic 3-clover leaf). Instead of capturing any of the plants, we simply observed the plant life and, with the help of our guide, identified the genus and species. It was interesting how there was so much diversity within each small area that we examined at a time–a small patch of forest could contain several different species of plants, from shrubbery to trees. Since we didn’t actually capture or take any of the plants, there wasn’t any harm in the research that we were doing. We simply observed and took note of characteristics of the species without disturbing the environment. Of course, had we started cutting flowers off or taking the plants out of their habitat for inspection under a microscope in the lab, then there would be ethical questions that we would have to review. Overall, it was a refreshing experience, especially for people like me who are so immersed in the technology and noise of the city.
I was in the Lepidoptera group – butterflies and moths. I was very lucky with my guide, who was extremely knowledgable and passionate about his subject. He was able to identify many species by sight, even as they they were moving through the air. This is how we identified a tiger swallowtail, the largest butterfly in North America. We identified other species by catching them with nets, holding them in little containers, and then releasing them.
We didn’t always release them, though. Once when our leader came across a species that he couldn’t identify, he poisoned the creature so that he could show it to a colleague. This raised ethical questions: are you allowed to kill a creature to identify it? Is that justified in the name of science? Are you allowed to kill just to satisfy your curiosity? Overall I felt that we were justified in killing that one butterfly, since it was not an endangered species and identifying it would help us better understand the New York ecosystem.
Finally, though we were supposed to focus exclusively on Lepidoptera, our leader also showed us how to collect flies and bugs. We found caterpillars among the bugs we gathered off of bushes, and this discovery gave me a sense of how Lepidoptera fit into the larger ecosystem.
For the Bio Blitz I was a part of the “Birds” group. This group was tasked with identifying and documenting all of the different birds we saw while walking around the New York Botanical Garden. We saw a large variety a birds because many different species were migrating through the area. Since the Botanical Garden is a large wooded area surrounded by miles of city lights and sounds, many birds use it as a resting point. This is a great advantage in bird watching that I had not thought about before. Prior to this trip I had assumed that the city would make it harder to see birds, but it created a localized area to see them in. In addition, I was a part of the 6:00AM-10:30AM group which is an ideal time for bird watching.
Although we did not hear many birdsongs, which our guide told us was out of the ordinary, we saw many different species. Many of these were low enough and close enough to distinguish with plain sight. Others, such as the American Goldfinch, stayed high up in the trees and we were forced to use our binoculars to get a good view. Overall, we had a very successful trip, documenting and learning about many different birds while experiencing the garden at a time when it is usually closed to the public. We took pictures, sometimes through our binoculars, and documented the birds on the iNaturalist app.
I was part of the Beetles group, which took place in the night, but our group ended up being merged with the Lepidoptera people. However, the overall experience was very interesting.
I’ve always found insects to be interesting and in the night, there were many… We set out very bright light traps that emitted a certain spectrum of light that insects were attracted to and painted trees with some alcoholic paste to attract insects as well. The paste didn’t really do much, but the lights attracted many, many different kinds of bugs.
The actual sifting through the insects was an enormous task. There were so many tiny beetles that it was hard to tell if it was even a living thing at all. Most of the bugs we encountered seem quite harmless and most of them seemed to feed on the plant life. Our beetle guide would just pick up random insects with her hand (much to our surprise) and present them to us. There were many, many moths flying around but regarding beetles, there were many ladybugs as well. However, I think the most interesting beetle I saw was the weevil. While seemingly ordinary on the outside, underneath a microscope, a whole new world of different colors and patterns show up. It made me realize how limited our eyesight is in appreciating all that nature has to offer.
To capture most of the bugs, we sort of pushed them into bags. For the moths, they were mostly captured inside jars. There were also respirators where you could “suck” in insects into jars using a straw. This made it very easy to gather smaller bugs. Regarding the question of ethics, it’s difficult to say if we’re justified in just killing off what we want for our observations. However, I doubt many people would argue for insect rights. Personally, I find all forms of life intelligent in its own way, including insects and even plants as well. Yet, I believe the reason that I feel this way is due to scientific observations and experiments that demonstrate how complicated and clever life is. As a result, I feel that for the sake of knowledge and simple appreciation/admiration of nature, scientific experiments go a long way in helping people understand that.
Early on Sunday morning of the BioBlitz, my group observed the aquatic wildlife in the New York Botanical Garden. A few members of our group put on waders, and the rest of us wore rubber boots. With our group leader’s help, we used large nets to catch fish in the lakes of the Garden. Using the markings on the fish, we counted the species and then released them back into the water. Our group leader explained why certain types of fish were more common in either the shallow or deeper parts of the lakes, and the more rocky versus the emptier areas of the water. We were careful not to harm the fish, and placed aerators in the buckets we used to hold them. It’s important to spend time observing the flora and fauna of New York City, to remind us that they were here first. It’s our responsibility to keep their ecosystem as natural as possible, and logging the species data during the BioBlitz will help us understand if we are doing a decent job of retaining their environment.
I attended the 4:00 P.M. session on Saturday and was part of the plant group. Our guide took us to the middle of the forest to show us the different types of leaf structures and patterns. He also taught us how to name the different plants that we encountered along the way. Since I was the scribe in my subgroup of students, it was not an easy task to correctly spell the genus and species of each plant.
It was also the first time of my life to see a hawk and poison ivy a couple of meters away from me. Seeing the hawk was truly my favorite moment in the whole BioBlitz experience since it’s not very common to have them flying around in New York City.
All in all, it’s really amazing to have part of New York City dedicated to contain many native and non-native taxon groups in close proximity to one another. Thanks for this great opportunity!
Bioblitz was an incredible experience. I was fortunate enough to sign up for the after-hours session, which occurred around 9 at night. The park is empty at this time, and with a group of two other student and four guides, we set out into the gardens to track bats.
We used echo locators, which pick up the frequencies of the bat emissions and make them audible to human ears. By listening carefully to the clicks of our device, we could hear when a bat was approaching and then look up just in time to see it flit by. Our echo locators recorded the data of the different species of bats and where we heard them at what areas in the park.
Despite having been visually adjusted to the dark during our journey, we walked straight into a mist net, which is used to catch bats and works because its fibers are just thin enough to not be detached by bats. Later on, we watched as one of the experts removed a bat from being entangled in the net, and got a glimpse of the anatomy first hand as it clawed around and revealed its fangs with little angry screams at being captured.
Our guide was incredibly knowledgable about other creatures of the night giving us a detailed and specific description of each ambiguous (to our untrained ears) noise he heard.
This was an amazing opportunity; getting to see the botanical gardens at night is literally a once in a lifetime opportunity, and seeing a live bat is not-so-surprisingly exciting.
I signed up for the reptile section of Bioblitz. It was great to see the different kinds of turtles that surrounded the lakes. We saw red eared turtles to large, old snapping turtles. We also learned the difference between male and female turtles, which I have always wanted to know. However, after a while, I became more and more disappointed as I had high expectations of seeing more than just turtles.
Although this happened, I found the process of obtaining them very interesting. Our guide knew exactly what to do and explained how the traps were used. The traps were set up already when we got there, filled with food in a can with a net-like cage inside it. Only once did no batch of turtles appear in a cage.
Overall, it was a good experience to be able to go and seeing different parts of the New York Botanical Garden.
For Bio Blitz, I studied microbes. We took soil samples from various parts of the New York Botanical Gardens to be further analyzed for microbe populations after the event. It was an interesting experience because I have never taken a soil sample before. The actual process of taking the sample was quick and easy, so the majority of time was spent walking around the gardens learning about the wildlife. To take the soil samples, you had to find a clear spot of soil away from the roots of the plants, insert a tube until you get around 20 mL of soil, then insert a smaller tube into the larger one to get a core sample of the soil. After that was accomplished, the hole was filled back in, and the tube with the sample was labeled for analysis.
One of the most interesting plants we talked about was the pitcher plant. It is a carnivorous plant like the venus fly trap. Unlike the venus fly trap, the pitcher plant lures bugs into its mouth by producing an enticing aroma. Once the insect gets into the plant’s mouth, it cannot escape, and it is trapped in there until it is digested. Another good experience while at BioBlitz was when we got to go off the trail to take samples in the woods. This a good experience because if we were not apart of the event, we would never have been able to go off the trail to explore that part of the Botanical Gardens.