This summer the U.S. National Park Service is holding a BioBlitz at Great Basin National Park in northeastern Nevada. This three day event this year will focus on lichens. What is a BioBlitz? As they put it,
A Bioblitz is a short term event to learn about the biodiversity of an area. In Great Basin National Park, we are focusing on one order of invertebrates each year over a 24-48 hour period. This snapshot view helps us look at many different habitats over the same time period time period and helps us to better understand what lives in the park.
Within its boundaries, Great Basin National Park encompasses an eight thousand foot elevation change, giving rise to a wide variety of habitats and ecological zones. Great Basin tops out at 13,000 foot tall Wheeler Peak.
This blitz will consist of classes and then hikes to survey and inventory lichen. In a previous post I wrote about how I got interested in them. (See the link below.) I’m looking forward to learning and the summer camping. I’m also thinking about what magazines might be interested in an article about the event. I’m not an expert, but I could write from the perspective of an enthusiastic beginner, just I have done with all my Rock&Gem articles.
Previous lichen post (internal link)
Great Basin BioBlitz page (external link)
