BioBlitz by Maremma Natural History Museum

Periodically active

from 25/05/2013

The BioBlitzes are one of the most popular activities in the field of environmental Citizen Science. They consist in 24h sampling as many species as possible in a determined study area.

All the BioBlitzes organized by the Maremma Natural History Museum are always held on territorial realities belonging to the Natura 2000 network. They are free events open to everyone and characterized by having a Base Camp.

Participants register (online or during the event) for the proposed activities (about 30) and collaborate with experts to list as many living species as possible in the area. The material necessary for the surveys is provided by the Maremma Natural History Museum, together with information leaflets on Citizen Science, inside a cotton bag with the logo of the event, delivered at the time of registration.

During the field surveys, experts and citizens take note of the species present, take photographs, record GPS coordinates. At the end of the activities, they go to the Base Camp, the core of the whole event. Here they can identify the species thanks to the material made available by the Museum (guides with dichotomous keys, binocular microscopes, computers connected to the internet ...) and insert the data collected in a database. Data entered are validated by the experts, integrated with information on the main environmental protection legislation, and subsequently used for didactic reports and scientific articles regarding the biodiversity of the investigated areas. Furthermore, all the data collected increase the database of the Maremma Natural History Museum on the biodiversity of southern Tuscany. The observations are also shared with the Re. Na. To. platform (Tuscany Region Naturalistic repertoire) and with the National Network for Biodiversity, promoted by the Ministry of the Environment and managed by ISPRA (Higher Institute for Environmental Protection and Research).

Aim

The BioBlitzes are events open to everyone, informal and fun, to learn to recognize living species present in nature and to collect original scientific data, useful for conservation.

The main objective of a BioBlitz is to list a checklist of as many living species as possible present in a study area, thanks to the collaboration between citizens and researchers.