All September long, the National Park and Recreation Association is hosting their annual Parks for Pollinators Bioblitz, which allows the public to help find and document area pollinators.
Area residents can download the iNaturalist app, create a profile, join the Plano Parks for Pollinators Bioblitz project page and record observations.
Plano’s Bioblitz focuses on Arbor Hills and Oak Point Park nature preserves and the pollinators or pollinator-friendly plants within them. The project is specifically looking for clear photos of bees, birds, beetles, ants, wasps, sawflies, butterflies, moths, hummingbirds and plants.
“Pollinators are essential to our ecosystem. In fact, more than 75 percent of the world’s flowering plants and 35 percent of the world’s crops rely on pollinators like bees and butterflies,” a press release said. “Not only are they essential for food production, they also support healthy ecosystems.”
Children can also record findings on the child-safe app Seek. Developed my iNaturalist, Seek allows children to identify plants and animals and earn badges for their findings.
“Bioblitzes make engaging with science easy and fun while giving the public an opportunity to contribute to a genuine scientific survey,” said Kelley Crimmins, community outreach specialist for Plano Parks and Recreation. “We look forward to sharing our findings with researchers and the community at-large this fall to see the many different kinds of pollinators that call these places home.”
