The American Littoral Society, Rutgers University and the National Park Service are partnering to sponser a Bio-Blitz in the Sandy Hook portion of the Gateway National Wildlife Refuge. This effort is scheduled September 17, 2011. BioBlitz events are intense 24-hour field surveys to catalog as many organisms as possible. This field event is part contest, part education and part scientific endeavor scheduled to increase the public awareness of the biological diversity found in our own backyard. It will give everyone a snapshot of the ecosystems found on the unique Sandy Hook landscape.
Stevie Thorsen from the American Littoral Society has requested experts in the various biological fields to join the effort and become team leaders during this day-long field event. FNJP can be a part of this effort by providing our expert botanical skills. Members and friends of the Flora Project that expect to attend are requested to contact Stevie to sign up (stevie@littoralsociety.org).
Each expert is requested to be on site for a minimum of 4 hours to collect,identify species and eventually produce a species list. This would be a good opportunity for the Flora Project to intensively explore the Sandy Hook area for new coastal species and to document the existence of previously known species. Anyone wishing to form a FNJP study group for the event can contact Joe Arsenault (njplants@aol.com) to coordinate our participation.
