Ecological Society of America

Mini-BioBlitz  August 2, 2009
8:45 am – 4:00 pm

The educational field trip will be held at the Albuquerque Bosque Ecosystem.  Support for this fieldtrip comes from Green Works! -  the service-learning, community action program of Project Learning Tree (www.plt.org).
 

The overall aims of this trip are to: (1) allow ESA members to connect with the local host community of the annual meeting; (2) use the expertise of ESA to aid local community members and scientists to preserve, conserve, and restore an area; (3) leave the community with surveying skills taught by selected ESA members; (4) introduce Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) expertise to field trip participants; and (5) build and/or strengthen connections between local schools and Albuquerque environmental groups, so that similar educational activities can continue beyond this fieldtrip. This is the third trip being organized by the SEEDS Education and Outreach Initiative, a group of students, former SEEDS participants, and SEEDS staff interested in instituting educational outreach activities at ESA annual meetings.

The Albuquerque Restored Wetland in a Bosque Ecosystem is a riparian habitat that contains two man-made marshes and a naturally occurring wetland that is managed by the City of Albuquerque Open Space Division. It is located just southeast of the Tingley Biological Park and along the Rio Grande where bosque is present along the river corridor. The man-made marshes were constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, who retain jurisdiction over any river development along the middle Rio Grande and also conduct ongoing monitoring of the marshes and wetland. Bosque is a riparian woodland area, which provides critical habitat for a number of species of wildlife, including endangered species in the region. Bosque is the name for areas of gallery forest found along flood plains and river banks in the southwestern United States. It is an oasis-like ribbon of green vegetation that is most notable along the middle Rio Grande in New Mexico. Vegetation found in the bosque habitat is generally deciduous (i.e. mesquite and cottonwood trees). Therefore, an array of shrubs, grasses, and other understory vegetation are present.

The Army Corps of Engineers is collaborating with several agencies from the city of Albuquerque and the state of New Mexico to restore bosque along the Rio Grande, otherwise known as the Albuquerque Bosque Restoration Projects (http://www.bosquerevive.com/). Some of the project goals are to restore the riparian gallery forest, remove invasive species, reduce fire hazards, increase ecosystem function of the river and bosque, improve educational and interpretive opportunities, and improve access for passive recreational use. There are 25 sites along the middle Rio Grande that are being monitored for restoration purposes by the Army Corps of Engineers. One of these sites (Bosque Ecosystem) is co-monitored by the Albuquerque Biological Park (BioPark) and they have partnered with the Bosque Ecological Monitoring Program (BEMP) to conduct bird surveys as part of a long term agreement with the Army Corps of Engineers to restore the area. The BEMP is a program that conducts long-term ecological research using volunteers (K-12 teachers and their students) to monitor key indicators of structural and functional change in the middle Rio Grande riparian forest (also known as the Bosque; http://www.bosqueschool.org/bemp.htm).

Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) refers to the knowledge base acquired by indigenous and local peoples over many hundreds of years through direct contact with their environment. It includes an intimate and detailed knowledge of plants, animals, and natural phenomena. In addition, the development and use of appropriate technologies and methodologies for hunting, fishing, trapping, agriculture, forestry, and a holistic knowledge, or "world view" which parallels the mainstream scientific discipline of ecology. TEK has long been over-dominated by Scientific Ecological Knowledge (SEK) in mainstream society even though both derive from the same source: systematic observations of nature (Kimmerer 2002).

The fieldtrip will consist of separating participants into groups of 5-7 individuals comprised of ESA members, local middle school and/or high school students, teachers, community members, and TEK practitioners. TEK practitioners will be invited along with mainstream scientists to help identify flora and fauna of key locations of the Bosque Ecosystem during the bioblitz. Each group will collect biological data from key locations of concern identified by the BioPark. Biological data will be collected in the form of a “mini-bioblitz.” Traditionally, a bioblitz is characterized as a 24-hour inventory of all the living organisms in a given area. This blitz, however, will run for 2-3 hours. The trip will conclude with a data synthesis, reflection, and recommendation period following lunch. Ideas and recommendations presented during this portion of the trip will be provided to land managers of the Albuquerque Bosque Restoration projects.

Participating high schools will have the opportunity to create a High School Ecology Chapter and apply for one of the seed grants to kick off the chapter in the new academic year.  Teachers and students will get a general overview of fieldtrip goals and expectations and give an introduction to urban ecology concepts. In addition, information about the SEEDS high school chapter network and ESA’s Strategies for Ecology Education, Diversity and Sustainability (SEEDS) program will be shared.  

Student leaders from ESA’s SEEDS program are the organizers of this fieldtrip.  For information, please visit our website http://www.esa.org/education_diversity/ or contact ESA Diversity Programs Coordinator, Erin Vinson at erin@esa.org.

2008-09 SEOI Team:

Colleen Cooley, Northern Arizona University

Sarah Renteria, University of Texas El Paso

Amber Finley, University of North Dakota
Charissa Jones, New College of Florida

Marla Striped Face-Collins, University of New Hampshire