Tucson News Now24 hour BioBlitz counts park's species

24 hour BioBlitz counts park's species

Throughout the day - and all through the night - thousands of Tucsonans are traversing Saguaro National Parks East and West in the first ever BioBlitz to be held here.

Bright yellow school buses paraded through the West side of the park all day long bringing more than 2,000 curious minds into the sparse, prickly and sometimes scary environment.

"They've had safety training for animals, scorpions and rattlesnakes," says Pamela Tinley, a science teacher who is leading her fourth grade students on their exciting expedition.

The BioBlitz is a joint effort between National Geographic and the National Park Service, a huge undertaking months in the planning process.

School students have been used before but not to the extent they are being used here.

"It's the species that are counted," says Andy Fisher, from the Park Service. "We expect to find species new to this park, maybe new to science."

The park is divided into grids and each student is given a field notebook to record their findings.

At the end of the day, 150 scientists from across the globe will analyze the results using the data to enhance the many studies going on in the park right now.

It's a two day festival open to the public but access is difficult so those who can't make it in person have a website, www.nationalgeographic.com/bioblitz which will record results, show pictures and blog the findings.

But it's not just the things we can see during the day. In some ways, the night crews have a more precarious and demanding mission, but one which up to now has had little attention.

"Insects mostly," Fisher says of what they will be recording. "We have a bat registry and nocturnal birds, and hematological inventories to complete."

She says it's easier to find them at night because they come out into the roads to warm themselves.

The BioBlitz is also a way for the Park Service to reach out to the Tucson community.

"We want the people to know we're here," says Fisher.

For the thousands of students, it's a way of learning about the desert and develop an appreciation which will last a lifetime.

"They are recording nature, not trampling nature," says Tinely. "They have to watch their feet so they're not trampling on little things about to grow."

Little things they can watch grow over time.

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