BioBlitzes

The BSC BioBlitzes began in 2001 as an initiative of the Arthropods of Canadian Grasslands subcommittee, although they were not called BioBlitzes at that time. It was envisaged that a series of field excursions to different prairie ecozones would be made by entomologists with interests in prairie insects and related arthropods. The main, long-term goal of these gatherings was to generate collections of arthropods in selected prairie habitats to help to document the fauna. It was also hoped that participants would exchange and share information and observations about various taxonomic groups, field tactics and techniques.

In 2004, the gathering in Aweme, Manitoba was dubbed a BioBlitz and included biologists collecting other organisms such as molluscs, plants and lichens. However, subsequent BioBlitzes have continued to focus on arthropods.

In 2005, the BioBlitz expanded its scope to include participants in the Forest Arthropods project. It was held in Waterton Lakes National Park, an area that includes both prairie and forest habitats, encompassing foothills, parkland, montane, subalpine and alpine regions.

The annual BSC BioBlitz is no longer exclusively associated with a specific project of the Survey but the location is now chosen in a more general framework to help increase the scientific knowledge of the arthropods of an area.

Information about each of the annual BioBlitzes is available as listed below:

2001    Onefour, Alberta

2002    Tallgrass Prairie Preserve, southeastern Manitoba: 
           Heavy rainfall and flooding forced cancellation of the field trip.

2003    Peace River grasslands, Alberta

2004    Aweme, Manitoba

2005    Waterton Lakes, National Park, Alberta

Update: The BioBlitz permit for a project titled: Biodiversity survey of terrestrial arthropods of Waterton Lakes National Park was recently renewed and is valid until 2011. Please contact Dave Langor (dlangor@nrcan.gc.ca) for details if you wish to collect under this permit.

2006    Gros Morne National Park, Newfoundland

Update: The BioBlitz permit for a project titled: Biological survey of Gros Morne National Park has been renewed and it is valid for several more years. Please contact Dave Langor (dlangor@nrcan.gc.ca) for details if you wish to collect under this permit.

2007    Riding Mountain National Park, Manitoba

2008   Bruce Peninsula National Park

Curation BioBlitz
The idea of Collection Bioblitzes to encourage members of the entomological community to gather at an under-curated collection and assess and identify the material began in 2007 with the first Curation Bioblitz during the joint annual meeting of the Entomological Society of Canada and the Entomological Society of Saskatchewan.

2007    Saskatchewan, SK (University of Saskatchewan)

2008   Gatineau, QC (Canadian Museum of Nature)

2009   Winnipeg, MB: The 2009 Curation Blitz will be held at the J.B. Wallis Museum of Entomology at the University of Manitoba on October 19, 2009. Contact David McCorquodale (david_mccorquodale@cbu.ca) for more information.

This page last updated 08/21/2009