Rainy start into the weekend

Hello AppState BioBlitz Team,

were you awoken by thunder this morning? It's pouring right now where I am! Fortunately, it is supposed to clear up again this afternoon and should stay dry tomorrow for the last day of the BioBlitz. The rain may actually bring on some new observation opportunities after a very dry week. Mosses and liverworts will look particularly lush today, lichens may change color when wet, and the many salamanders we have in the area may come out of hiding. Be prepared for cooler temperatures as this front passes through and bring an extra layer of clothing if you go out later today and tomorrow.

We will have the gate open at the ASU Dark Sky Observatory this afternoon from 1-4 PM (PDF with map and directions - GPS will get you there as well). Feel free to stop by whenever it is convenient for you during that time frame! You can park at the building at the end of the road or anywhere along the road as long as you are not blocking it. There's forest edge habitat to explore, as well as several logging roads that go into the woods.

As of this morning, we have accumulated about 62% of the number of observations and 84% of the number of species we had at this point in the week during our Fall 2022 BioBlitz. Great job everyone considering that our observer numbers this time around are just 56% of the numbers we had in fall! Our top observers right now are kirnsc with 217 observations and nicole_lowder with 142 species. Coming in third are brookesbees for observation numbers and leighalobelia for species count.

We have some catching up to do again today on UNCG. We were slightly ahead in number of species last night, but as of this morning they have pulled ahead of us again. This is going to be a tight race over the weekend! UNCW may be trailing in terms number of observations, but they have a far greater ratio of species to observation count compared to us and UNCG. Current numbers are:
UNCG - 1,941 observations / 516 species
AppState - 1,832 observations / 510 species
UNCW - 849 observations / 350 species

Posted on April 22, 2023 11:48 AM by annkatrinrose