May 17, 2009
By Amy LaValley Post-Tribune correspondent
Even as officials announced the initial species tally for the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, it was being revised.
The early tally for BioBlitz, a 24-hour species inventory sponsored by the National Park Service and National Geographic, was 788 species.
Jim Louderman (right), a Field Museum employee from Miller, shows Kevin (front) and Bruce Connolly of Plainfield, Ill., a type of beetle Saturday during the BioBlitz at West Beach. (Michael McArdle/Post-Tribune)
Count 'em
The initial tally at the BioBlitz Friday and Saturday and the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore by the numbers:
890 species including26 amphibians and reptiles101 birds18 fish27 fungi11 mammals410 plants178 insectsThe count is not final and scientists will add to the list over the coming months.-- Amy Lavalley
But before Constantine Dillon, superintendent of the national lakeshore, and John Francis, a National Geographic vice president, announced the total Saturday, they shifted it upward, to 890 species.
The count will continue to grow in the coming months, and, in addition to being posted on National Geographic's Web site, will go into a National Park Service inventory of the species within its properties.
The Dunes BioBlitz, which took place from noon Friday to noon Saturday, was the third in a series of such events at urban parks that will continue through 2016.
BioBlitz can be catalyst for future work in the national lakeshore, said Ray Sauvajot, science director at the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area in California, the site of last year's BioBlitz.
"That's exactly what's happening for us in Santa Monica Mountains," Sauvajot said.
Before the project began, he said, many scientists didn't know much about the park service, and those within the park service didn't know much about scientists.
"What subsequently happened is, we're bringing a lot of those (scientists) back to the park," he said.
By Amy LaValley Post-Tribune correspondent
Even as officials announced the initial species tally for the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, it was being revised.
The early tally for BioBlitz, a 24-hour species inventory sponsored by the National Park Service and National Geographic, was 788 species.
Jim Louderman (right), a Field Museum employee from Miller, shows Kevin (front) and Bruce Connolly of Plainfield, Ill., a type of beetle Saturday during the BioBlitz at West Beach. (Michael McArdle/Post-Tribune)
Count 'em
The initial tally at the BioBlitz Friday and Saturday and the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore by the numbers:
890 species including26 amphibians and reptiles101 birds18 fish27 fungi11 mammals410 plants178 insectsThe count is not final and scientists will add to the list over the coming months.-- Amy Lavalley
But before Constantine Dillon, superintendent of the national lakeshore, and John Francis, a National Geographic vice president, announced the total Saturday, they shifted it upward, to 890 species.
The count will continue to grow in the coming months, and, in addition to being posted on National Geographic's Web site, will go into a National Park Service inventory of the species within its properties.
The Dunes BioBlitz, which took place from noon Friday to noon Saturday, was the third in a series of such events at urban parks that will continue through 2016.
BioBlitz can be catalyst for future work in the national lakeshore, said Ray Sauvajot, science director at the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area in California, the site of last year's BioBlitz.
"That's exactly what's happening for us in Santa Monica Mountains," Sauvajot said.
Before the project began, he said, many scientists didn't know much about the park service, and those within the park service didn't know much about scientists.
"What subsequently happened is, we're bringing a lot of those (scientists) back to the park," he said.
