Article

Planning and Conducting a Small-scale Bioblitz Event

A collage of images showing scientists working with young people in nature and in a lab to catch and identify insects and images of butterflies, snails, and a grasshopper.
The 2014 BioBlitz event at George Washington Carver National Monument.

NPS

What is a BioBlitz?

A BioBlitz is a short-term event where National Park Service staff, professional scientists, teachers, students, and citizen scientists work together to find and identify as many different species within a park as possible using scientific methods. These events inspire future stewards of national parks and help “bridge the gap” in park knowledge by providing additional biological information that can be used to maintain and restore park resources. Targeted surveys help parks know what species are present and where they are. They also help verify and update existing park information about species. In the words of conservation biologist Dr. David Bowles, “In conservation biology, you can’t protect something if you don’t know it’s there.”

Visit our keyboard shortcuts docs for details
Duration:
2 minutes, 32 seconds

A BioBlitz focuses on finding and identifying as many species as possible in a specific area over a short period of time. See how scientists, families, students, teachers, and other community members work together to get an overall count of species that live in a park.

A Guide to Small-scale BioBlitzes

The National Park Service (NPS) has partnered with the National Geographic Society to conduct BioBlitz events near major population centers that involved extensive planning, major funding sources, multiple partners, and substantial park and public participation. For most NPS parks, events of this scale are simply not feasible because of staffing and financial constraints. Smaller BioBlitz events can help parks grow their natural resource knowledge and make science fun for a new generation of citizen scientists, creating next generation stewards. Conducting BioBlitz events helps park interpretive staff integrate information available from NPS science inventories and promote interdisciplinary collaboration with NPS inventory and monitoring network scientists and other professionals. To facilitate small-scale bioblitz events, the Heartland Inventory and Monitoring Network developed a guide to planning and conducting a BioBlitz for small and medium-sized parks.

These smaller BioBlitz events focus on a few understudied taxa groups or habitats and can accommodate up to 40 volunteers. They require minimal park staff involvement and funding. The step-by-step guide provides descriptions of all planning actions, from identifying team members, scientists, and potential groups of species and sites to developing research and collection guidance and finding funding. Also outlined are the steps and timeline for conducting the event, including recruiting citizen scientists, organizing the team, and identifying logistical requirements.

Read the Guide: Planning and Conducting a BioBlitz Event at a National Park Service Unit

Click on the following tabs to explore the guide. Read the full guide and appendices.

A collage of photos showing scientists working with young people to examine wildlife in a creek, beside a pond, in a field, and in a lab under a microscope along with two pictures of mites.
Bioblitz events at George Washington Carver National Monument and Buffalo National River.

NPS

Example BioBlitz Events

A BioBlitz was held at George Washington Carver National Monument in Diamond, Missouri, on September 27, 2014. The focus of this event was land snails, butterflies, moths, and grasshoppers and their relatives. Over an 8-hour period, 16 volunteers collected 44 unique taxa, 36 of which had not been previously reported at the park.

Buffalo National River held a BioBlitz event at Arkansas State University's Harp Research Field Station in the Toney Bend Environmental Education Center near Rush, Arkansas, on October 18, 2014. This event focused on water mites, and 13 volunteers collected 18 taxa, none of which had previously been identified at the park.

Read more about these BioBlitz events in this published report:

Hinsey, J. A., and T. M. Johnson. 2015. George Washington Carver National Monument and Buffalo National River BioBlitz events - 2014. Natural Resource Data Series. NPS/HTLN/NRDS—2015/778. National Park Service. Fort Collins, Colorado.

Seven people standing in a field looking on as two of the people set up a scale to weigh a rodent in a mesh bag.
Surveying for mammals during a BioBlitz event in 2014 at George Washington Carver National Monument.

NPS

This article was created by the Heartland Inventory and Monitoring Network.

Last updated: January 16, 2025