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| Not a bad way to start the day! |
On May 8th, Tejon Ranch Conservancy staff
gathered with expert volunteers across Tejon Ranch to commence our first-ever
BioBlitz on the property. The BioBlitz at
Tejon was part of a large coordinated BioBlitz
in the greater Tehachapi Mountains region. This effort involved cataloging every plant,
bird, reptile, amphibian, mammal, and insect the teams encountered and
uploading those observations onto the iNaturalist social media site.
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| An American badger (Taxidea taxus) playing peek-a-boo with the San Joaquin team. Photo courtesy of Ben Teton |
So wait, what’s a BioBlitz? According to National
Geographic, who has been sponsoring BioBlitzes throughout the US:
“A BioBlitz can
happen in most any geography—urban, rural, or suburban—in as large an area as a
national park or small as a schoolyard. Biologists often measure the population
of particular species or study an environment’s biodiversity, but a BioBlitz
brings together the expertise of multiple scientists and naturalists with the
power of citizens, including students, willing to take a snapshot of an area’s
biodiversity in about 24 hours.”
http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/programs/bioblitz/?ar_a=1, accessed 5/22/2015
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| Chuck Noble lines up the right shot. Photo courtesy of Read Howarth |
For our part, the idea behind the BioBlitz is to increase our understanding
of biodiversity and species
ranges between the San Emigdio, Tehachapi, and
Southern Sierra mountains. We often tout the significance of this region for
its biodiversity and importance as a wildlife movement corridor, but little has
been done to capture these features at a regional scale. In order to capture this
broad snapshot, Tejon Ranch Conservancy teamed up with The Nature Conservancy,
Audubon California Kern River Preserve, Southern Sierra Research Station, multiple
private landowners, and numerous volunteer citizen scientists in the Tehachapi
Mountains to conduct a coordinated regional BioBlitz.
In addition to producing a snapshot of this incredible area, our hope is to strengthen
collaborative ties between the myriad land managers, researchers, and
landowners in this complex region. There’s no telling what we can accomplish if
we share information and work together! Another goal of the 2015 San
Emigdio/Tehachapi/Southern Sierra BioBlitz was to provide an opportunity for
naturalists with various interests and expertise to get together and observe
nature in a beautiful and under-studied area.
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| The area we tried to cover for the 2015 BioBlitz is highlighted in yellow. |
I’m proud to report that for a first attempt, we did a great job of
approaching the three above goals. To see how the BioBlitz did overall, check
out the iNaturalist project page
http://www.inaturalist.org/projects/2015-san-emgidio-tehachapi-southern-sierra-bioblitz.
You will notice that 22 observers recorded over 1500 observations of 525
species. We’ve heard tell that the most organized BioBlitzes with hundreds of
observers will struggle to break 1,000 species. Not bad for a first effort!
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| Peirson's lupine (Lupinus peirsonii), a new species to Tejon Ranch |
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| Eyelash cup fungus |
Across Tejon Ranch, 35 volunteers worked in 6 teams. Five of those teams
were led by Conservancy staff and one team of botanists from the Rancho Santa
Ana Botanic Garden was led by Nick Jensen, who is creating a flora of Tejon
Ranch (
www.tejonflora.org). Several discoveries were either made or confirmed which
add significantly to our understanding of Tejon Ranch. For instance, the botany
team was able to confirm a sighting of Peirson’s lupine (
Lupinus peirsonii), a plant identified as “Rare, Threatened and
Endangered in California and elsewhere” by the California Native Plant Society.
This sighting in Sacatara Canyon on the Antelope Valley side of the ranch also
represents a significant range extension for this species. Observers also
spotted a long-eared owl (
Asio otus)
nest with chicks and the fascinating eyelash cup fungus (
Scutellinia scutellata).
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| Long-eared owl (Asio otus) and chicks |
The Tejon Ranch BioBlitz also recorded species of interest such as sugar
pine (
Pinus lambertiana), purple
martin (
Progne subis), and migrating
birds such as warblers. Of course a few condors (
Gymnogyps californianus) were in the mix as well.
Perhaps the most exciting observations came
from the handful of entomologists that participated. Although the conditions
were a bit windy for seeing massive numbers of insects, the information
provided by these observers represents a giant leap in our understanding of the
invertebrates of Tejon Ranch. Hopefully, this BioBlitz will lead to future
insect surveys and perhaps a few new discoveries on Tejon!
All in all, the 2015 BioBlitz was a major success and the Conservancy looks
forward to collaborating with a broader coalition of partners and observers in
2016. If you are interested in helping with future BioBlitzes, feel free to
contact Scot Pipkin, the Conservancy’s Public Access Coordinator at
spipkin@tejonconservancy.org.
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| American Kestrel (Falco sparverius). Photo courtesy of Ben Teton |
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| Observers take a much-needed break to get some refreshments. Photo courtesy of Read Howarth. |
