All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory and Bioblitz Implementation
in the National Park Service
Background
The National Park System contains some of the most biologically rich ecosystems in the United States. Although vertebrates and vascular plants are often well documented, the true biodiversity of national parks remains relatively unknown considering the vast number of undocumented invertebrates, non-vascular plants, fungi, and bacteria remaining to be discovered.
Management and protection of National Park Service (NPS) lands is hindered by few surveys for these lesser-known taxa. The result is that invasive species from these groups can go undetected, and distribution and abundance of rare, threatened and endangered species remain unknown.
Greater knowledge of extant species from a full taxonomic array is crucial in order to improve a park's ability to protect its natural resources. Understanding which species are present will also contribute information to other programs such as planning (GPRA goals Ia2A-T&E Species, Ia2B-Species of management Concern, and Ia2C-Invasive Animals) and interpretation.
National parks also have a large number and rich diversity of visitors; they come to experience, learn, discover, and explore a park's natural and cultural resources. Visitors generally are limited in their ability to learn and discover the invertebrate and other unique life in parks due to the lack of opportunity and expertise in finding, capturing, and identifying these species. All Taxa Biotic Inventories (ATBI) and Bioblitzes provide safe learning environments for visitors to participate in a new non-traditional park experience.
Engaging citizen scientists in supervised biological surveys increases visitor investment and can lead to greater interest in park advocacy and preserving park resources. Utilizing citizen scientists to help document the true biodiversity of a park that may harbor tens of thousand of species may seem daunting, but this task is feasible using an ATBI approach that includes Bioblitzes (see below for more information).
The following link provides information to NPS staff who are involved with ATBI and BioBlitz activities
Approaches to Biodiversity Inventories
The ATBI project brings professional and volunteer citizen scientists together to provide hands-on assistance in national park biological surveys. The results are enhanced visitor enjoyment and appreciation of biological resources through an interactive environment. This increased knowledge of park biota will assist managers in preserving and protecting biological resources in national parks.
An ATBI is an effort to document the presence/absence, distribution, and abundance of all taxa within a given area. A typical biological survey includes only vertebrates and vascular plants, but a comprehensive ATBI can focus on invertebrates, non-vascular plants, and fungi. To be successful, a comprehensive ATBI requires the integration of a host of disciplines: science (including taxonomy), interpretation, education, database management, specimen curation and archiving, partnerships, outreach, and fundraising.
A Bioblitz may consist of two primary survey methods: traditional and structured. Traditional surveys (sometimes called targeted surveys) target selected locations that are believed to have the most biodiversity within or among taxa groups of interest. Traditional surveys may also target locations of high management interest to the park, or locations that are of interest because they have never been surveyed. Traditional surveys primarily provide information on species presence, and secondarily on species distribution and abundance. Because scientific design protocols are not used in this method, inference cannot be extended to other non-sampled areas, and no inference can be made on species absence in the area. Traditional surveys are highly amenable to citizen scientists of all ages and backgrounds.
Structured surveys follow rigorous scientific protocols to survey randomly selected locations. Structured surveys provide spatial and temporal information on presence/absence, distribution and abundance of species. Because rigorous sampling protocols are used, structured surveys allow inference beyond the sample locations to other non-sampled locations. Structured surveys require regularly scheduled sampling throughout the year to capture and understand the spatial and temporal dynamics of species. Consequently, structured surveys can be amenable to citizen scientists with higher levels of biological expertise than K-12 students, such as college students or adults with a background or heightened interest in biology. Retired biologists, taxonomists and biology teachers are also recognized as excellent citizen scientists for structured surveys. Structured surveys focus more on scientific results and less on engaging and educating the participants.
All of these approaches can be structured to meet the needs and capabilities of an individual park.