Backyard biodiversity helps statewide initiatives at Biodiversity Day 2023 events
At the Center for Community and
Citizen Science, we love connecting people with opportunities for
authentic science engagement. Every so often, we get to
participate ourselves! Saturday, September 9, staff from the
Center went to Effie Yeaw Nature Center at Ancil Hoffman County
Park in Carmichael. We met colleagues from the California Academy
of Sciences who were hosting a bioblitz alongside the California
Department of Fish and Wildlife and the California Natural
Resources Agency.
This bioblitz was one of over 100
events held in celebration of California
Biodiversity Day on September 7, 2023. The goal of these
events was to provide opportunities for people to explore and
document biodiversity where they live. Partners across the state
all used the iNaturalist platform to share observations and
demonstrate California’s incredible diversity of life.
At Effie Yeaw Nature Center, Dr. Jen Norris from the California
Natural Resources Agency explained
that documenting organisms as part of California
Biodiversity Day helps the state in its 30×30 initiative. The
initiative is part of a global effort to conserve 30% of lands
and coastal waters by 2023. As California is the
most biodiverse state in the US, knowing what species and
where they are located is key to focusing efforts on conserving
land.
During the bioblitz, we helped
document over 600 observations of 180 species at Ancil
Hoffman County Park. 
Some highlights
include a mule
deer, spined
turban gall wasp, western
fence lizard, gray buckeye
butterfly, marsh
ramshorn snail, and pumpkin gall
wasp. Staff from the Center had fun participating in the
biodiversity day challenge, which was to document 30 species
from September 2 to 10. Our favorite observations were the galls,
as we saw such a wide variety of different shapes, colors,
and textures – even on a single tree.
If you’re interested in hosting a bioblitz like this one at your organization or school, check out the resources we’ve developed to get started.
We can’t wait to participate again next year!
