PEEC/NPS BioBlitz 2010

September 24-25

Team Registration: If you would like to register a team,
please email bioblitz@peec.org

What is a BioBlitz?
A Bioblitz is 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 and animal species as possible.

BioBlitz events give adults, kids, and teens the opportunity to join biologists and other scientists in the field, participate in bona fide research expeditions, and learn from the experts about biodiversity—both around the planet and in our own backyards.

Why do it?
• Raise public awareness of biodiversity.
• Excite students of all ages about science.
• Generate data about the Park.
• Celebrate the diversity in our backyard.

Goals
• To locate and identify as many species of plants and animals living in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area during a 24 hour period.
• Visual observations and digital photographs only
• Record the common as well as unique species within the Park, as well as the presence of invasive species.
• Create a photographic and textual database of species as a “snapshot in time” record of the Park’s biodiversity.
• Create a baseline for possible changes in biodiversity over time.

The Plan
• 200-300 total participants covering three 8 hour shifts
• Field teams, onsite PEEC teams for parents and younger children, support teams at PEEC BioBlitz HQ
• Eighteen specialist-led field teams of 7-10 volunteer amateur observers will travel to multiple sites representing different ecosystems within the Park.
• They will conduct prolonged observations of species at the sites and photograph and record the data

What we need
• Scientists
• Sponsors
• Product/services donations
• Volunteers for the event
• Database/website volunteer
Contact us if you can help!

Stay at PEEC
• Yurts
• Cabins
• Lodges
Special rates for BioBlitz teams
Meals available for purchase

Sponsors
• Pocono Environmental Education Center
• National Park Service
• Friends of DEWA
• Patagonia
• The Nature Conservancy, NJ Office

BioBlitz Hikes at PEEC
Recommended for:
• Individuals who do not want to be in the field for a full shift
• Families with children under 12 years old.

Friday, September 24, 2010
6:00pm Herpetology (amphibians and reptiles) – Will Rode
9:30pm Nocturnal Insects

Saturday, September 25, 2010
8:00am Bird Walk – Jessica Snyder
9:00am Tree Finder – Molly Check
1:30pm Pond / Steam Creatures – Hannah Taylor
3:30pm Wildflowers – Molly Check

What is PEEC?
PEEC is the Pocono Environmental Education Center, a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) residential environmental education center, within the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. Its mission is to advance environmental awareness, knowledge, and appreciation through hands-on experience in a natural outdoor classroom.

What is the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area?
The recreation area encompasses 70,000 acres of mountain ridge, forest, and floodplain on both sides of the Delaware River in the states of Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Among the more surprising species of animals in the park are black bear, timber rattlesnakes, bald eagles, and nesting peregrine falcons. Ecosystems include hemlock ravines with bountiful rhododendron and ridge tops with prickly pear cactus.

Forty miles of the Middle Delaware River are within the park, as well as trout streams, lakes, ponds, and some of the highest waterfalls of either state. Water quality is exceptional in this section of the valley. The river's path through the mountains includes the S-curves of Walpack Bend and the Delaware Water Gap.

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