1 LMNGBR BioBlitz LSU Hilltop Arboretum in Baton Rouge, Louisiana April 27-28, 2018 Hilltop Arboretum is 14 acres of land in an urban area featuring hardwood forest on the natural levee of the Mississippi River with natural ravines, plus man-made meadows, wetlands and a pond. Geologically speaking, this area is loess pleistocene terrace. This was the inaugural BioBlitz for both the Louisiana Master Naturalists of Greater Baton Rouge (LMNGBR) and Hilltop Arboretum. This initial BioBlitz produced baseline data and created a hands-on experience for LMNGBR volunteers to learn how to run a BioBlitz. The intent is to include the public in future BioBlitzes. This type of event meshes well with LMNGBR’s primary goal, which is to provide scientific, research-based education to the general public for a better understanding of the local natural ecosystems, and promote conservation and preservation of native plant and animal life and habitats within the Greater Baton Rouge area. A public BioBlitz also aligns very well with the intent of Hilltop Arboretum, which is to remain a model of the natural landscape and for use as an outdoor laboratory. Mr. Emory Smith donated his Hilltop property to Louisiana State University in 1981 because of his love of the natural world and his belief in education. The data was collected primarily in iNaturalist and eBird. In addition to canvassing the property on foot, there was a night blacklighting session and various netting and collection techniques utilized in the pond. The event ran about 9 hours, from 6:30 p.m. Friday through 12:00 p.m. Saturday. The temperature Friday night was in the high 60s, and it was sunny on Saturday, with a low of 52 in the morning and warming up to around 80 when we finished. We had 19 LMNGBR volunteers, with several volunteers returning for both days. Nine guest experts were vital to this effort. A couple of families visiting the arboretum were excited to visit the aquatics table and see the specimens Karen Westphal collected and receive impromptu educational outreach from her. 416 observations were collected, representing 253 species.
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LMNGBR BioBlitz LSU Hilltop Arboretum in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
April 27-28, 2018 Hilltop Arboretum is 14 acres of land in an urban area featuring hardwood forest on the natural levee of the Mississippi River with natural ravines, plus man-made meadows, wetlands and a pond. Geologically speaking, this area is loess pleistocene terrace. This was the inaugural BioBlitz for both the Louisiana Master Naturalists of Greater Baton Rouge (LMNGBR) and Hilltop Arboretum. This initial BioBlitz produced baseline data and created a hands-on experience for LMNGBR volunteers to learn how to run a BioBlitz. The intent is to include the public in future BioBlitzes. This type of event meshes well with LMNGBR’s primary goal, which is to provide scientific, research-based education to the general public for a better understanding of the local natural ecosystems, and promote conservation and preservation of native plant and animal life and habitats within the Greater Baton Rouge area. A public BioBlitz also aligns very well with the intent of Hilltop Arboretum, which is to remain a model of the natural landscape and for use as an outdoor laboratory. Mr. Emory Smith donated his Hilltop property to Louisiana State University in 1981 because of his love of the natural world and his belief in education. The data was collected primarily in iNaturalist and eBird. In addition to canvassing the property on foot, there was a night blacklighting session and various netting and collection techniques utilized in the pond. The event ran about 9 hours, from 6:30 p.m. Friday through 12:00 p.m. Saturday. The temperature Friday night was in the high 60s, and it was sunny on Saturday, with a low of 52 in the morning and warming up to around 80 when we finished. We had 19 LMNGBR volunteers, with several volunteers returning for both days. Nine guest experts were vital to this effort. A couple of families visiting the arboretum were excited to visit the aquatics table and see the specimens Karen Westphal collected and receive impromptu educational outreach from her. 416 observations were collected, representing 253 species.
Thoughts on Results: The number of verified species is low, especially beetles, flies and sedges. Unidentified observations at the Order level or higher were left off of this report. Hopefully this will improve over the next few months and the data can be updated with the additional species. The highest bird count among the species observed was 56 Cedar Waxwings, and the runner-up was 8 Indigo Buntings. The bird team commented that the bird count was good, but they were anticipating seeing a lot more migratory birds. The counts on moths and butterflies were much lower than expected. The experts believe this is due to the harsh freezes we had this winter. The fungi counts were very low due to the dry weather. Reptile and mammal counts were artificially low, as we did not have an expert assisting for those topics. It was suggested that we set up a game camera next year to find mammals.
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Fun Stuff Most Observations Posted - Top 5 99 Amber King 67 Janie Braud 63 Tracey Allen 51 Linda Medine (posted in Amber’s account) 35 Karen Westphal Most Observed Species - Top 5 Green Treefrog Pickerelweed Lyreleaf Sage Alligator Weed Pond Slider Most Species Observed - Top 5 59 Janie Braud 36 Linda Medine 33 Andre Moncrieff 28 Tracey Allen 26 Amber King Top Nature Moment When mama broad-shouldered hawk put on a show with lots of calls, then caught a big snake, and carried it across the meadow to her hungry babies. Weirdest Finds
Oak-Apple Gall by Tracey Allen; Reverse Clover by Janie Braud; Freshwater Jawless Leech by Karen Westphal; Mystery Aquatic Arthropod by Karen Westphal.
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Best Photos
Acadian Flycatcher by Andre Moncrieff; Dew-covered katydid by Linda Medine.
Fragile Forktail with dinner by Amber King; Eastern Bumble Bee flying to Pickerelweed by Ken Bosso; Sleepy Green Treefrog by Peggy Coates.
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Acknowledgements Many thanks to our BioBlitz participants: Guest Experts
LMNGBR Volunteers and Leaders
Additional thanks to: Peggy Coates for her enthusiastic support and various supplies; Helen Peebles, Ken Bosso, and Peggy Coates for the initial input and inspiration; Helen Peebles and Bob Dillemuth for representing CANPS with books, plants and expertise; Amanda Takacs with BREC for the Discover Nature BioBlitz presentation; Matthew Herron for sharing BioBlitz forms; LMNGBR volunteers that invited experts, contributed to a fun and social setting, and helped after the event identifying species in iNaturalist. Thank you to our volunteers that brought sustenance and supplies: Ken Bosso, wifi technology; Colette Dean, food and drink; Katherine Gividen, blacklighting setups and overnight monitoring; Art Scarbrough, photography light box; Dan Strecker, plant species lists; Karen Westphal, aquatic scope, nets, aquarium and supplies; And everyone that brought their cameras and smartphones!
Fungi Logan Wiedenfeld, LSU Hilltop Arboretum Peggy Coates, Executive Director Plants Helen Peebles, CANPS
Aquatic Invertebrates Jim Wilkins, Sea Grant Arthropods Josephine Antwi, LSU Birds Anna Hiller, LSUMNS Christine Kooi, BRAS Andre Moncrieff, LSUMNS Jerry Seagle, BRAS
Vicki LaPlace Linda Medine Wayne McCartney John Nettles Mary Norris Shea Sargent Art Scarbrough Dan Strecker Karen Westphal
Tracey Allen Ken Bosso Janie Braud Bonnie D’Antonio Leslie Day Colette Dean Bob Dillemuth Katherine Gividen Marcy Hardy Amber King
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Species Summary Amphibians
Green Tree Frog Hyla cinerea Northern Cricket Frog Acris crepitans Southern Leopard Frog Lithobates sphenocephalus Tadpole Anura
Aquatic Invertebrates & Mollusks
Annelids Annelida Arthropods Arthropoda Common Land Snails and Slugs Stylommatophora Flatworm Planarioidea Freshwater Jawless Leeches Glossiphoniidae Pulmonates Pulmonata Red Swamp Crayfish Procambarus clarkii Smooth Land Slugs Deroceras Snail Gastropodidae Springtails Collembola
Arachnids
Black-Tailed Red Sheetweaver Florinda coccinea Cobweb spider Theridion frondeum Entelegyne Spiders Entelegynae Jumping Spiders Salticidae Meshweavers Dictynidae Orbweaver Eustala Wolf Spider Tigrosa Wolf Spiders and Allies Lycosoidea Fish
Blackstripe Topminnow Fundulus notatus Least Killifish Heterandria formosa Bluegill Lepomis macrochirus Black Basses Micropterus Fungi & Lichens
Plant, Sedges Cyperaceae Plant, Sheep's sorrel Rumex acetosella Plant, Slender vetch Vicia ludoviciana Plant, Soft Rush Juncus effuses Plant, Southern arrowwood Viburnum dentatum Plant, Southern dewberry Rubus trivialis Plant, Spotted spurge Euphorbia maculata Plant, Swamp rose mallow Hibiscus moscheutos Plant, Swamp smartweed Persicaria hydropiperoides Plant, Sweet Pepperbush Clethra alnifolia Plant, Sweetleaf Symplocos tinctoria Plant, Tall blue lettuce Lactuca biennis Plant, Taro Colocasia esculenta Plant, Umbrella papyrus Cyperus involucratus Plant, Venus' looking-glass Triodanis biflora Plant, Violets Viola Plant, Virginia Dayflower Commelina virginica Plant, Virginia pepperweed Lepidium virginicum Plant, Virginia sweetspire Itea virginica Plant, Water Meal Wolffia australiana Plant, White clover Trifolium repens Plant, White Morning-glory Ipomoea lacunose Plant, Whitesnow Drymaria cordata Tree, American hophornbeam Ostrya virginiana Tree, American hornbeam Carpinus caroliniana Tree, American sweetgum Liquidambar styraciflua Tree, Bigleaf magnolia Magnolia macrophylla Tree, birches and allies Betulaceae Tree, Hercules' club Zanthoxylum clava-herculis Tree, Loquat Eriobotrya japonica Tree, Parsley hawthorn Crataegus marshallii Tree, Persian silk tree Albizia julibrissin Tree, Red Buckeye Aesculus pavia Tree, Roughleaf dogwood Cornus drummondii Tree, Southern red oak Quercus falcate Tree, Spruce pine Pinus glabra Tree, Sweetbay magnolia Magnolia virginiana Tree, Trifoliate orange Citrus trifoliate Tree, Tulip tree Liriodendron tulipifera Tree, Two-wing Silverbell Halesia diptera Tree, Willow oak Quercus phellos Vine, Carolina snailseed Cocculus carolinus Vine, Cross vine Bignonia capreolata Vine, Pepper vine Ampelopsis arborea Vine, Virginia creeper Parthenocissus quinquefolia
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Lessons Learned iNaturalist Project Error: When volunteers tried to tag their observations as part of the BioBlitz project, it would give an error. We found out that the upgraded BioBlitz project module is now different than a regular project. You just upload observations like usual - all observations within the designated BioBlitz area, dates and times will automatically be indexed to the BioBlitz project. Since the observations were not tagged, you had to check the project to make sure they were included. This will come in very handy for the public because they will not have to understand what a project is nor remember to tag it. iNaturalist Location Error: Three volunteers had problems with some of their observations not being added to the project, even though all of the settings appeared correct. An iNaturalist tech was able to figure it out. It was determined that the “location accuracy circle” on the map was larger than the boundary of Hilltop Arboretum. Once the location circle was resized, the observation was included in the project. iNaturalist Wild Designation: The tech person at iNaturalist that helped solve our error mystery contacted me and asked that since it is an arboretum, that we make an effort to tag any of the plant observations that we know were planted. To do this, select “No” in the “Organism is Wild” portion of the Data Quality Assessment section of the observation. Pond: The initial thought was that the pond was relatively free of debris, but Karen found that her nets would constantly catch on debris. Photo booth: Camera flashes and the lights that came with the photo box kit did not highlight the colors of the insects very well. We will have to experiment with different colored light sources. Schedule: The weekend of the BioBlitz was scheduled on a very busy bird migration weekend, so birders were out of town. Also, one of the LMNGBR certification classes was the same Saturday. The volunteer turnout was good, however it was not quite enough people to stick to the formal schedule of walks that were planned. It evolved into a free-range event, which seemed to suit the volunteers that were there quite nicely, but a tighter schedule will be important for a larger group and/or the public. Track It Forward: We used the public setting on the shift sign ups so guest experts could register themselves. It worked very well, however we found out that when a guest signed up, they were included in our volunteer count for our monthly pricing, so we inadvertently went over the limit.