New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science

BioBlitz

NM BioBlitz 2009. Photo by Walter Kleweno

New Mexico's first BioBlitz occurred on Saturday, May 2, 2009 along the Rio Grande in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The purpose of this event was to introduce the public to citizen science and get people interested in collecting information on the living organisms in their own backyards. Additionally, the goal of the BioBlitz is to introduce to the idea that climate change is occurring here in New Mexico and we can all make observations about the effects of climate change here in the southwest.

NM BioBlitz 2009. Photo by Mark Higgins

Over 150 people participated in the 28 scientist-led walks throughout the day. Through these walks, participants were able to count 260 different living organisms which call the middle-Rio Grande riparian ecosystem home. Here is a synopsis of the data:

• 107 Invertebrates
• 81 Birds
• 54 Plants
• 9 Reptiles and Amphibians
• 6 Mammals
• 3 Fish
• 260 Species TOTAL

A complete table of the organisms found during the 2009 BioBlitz is available here. Photographs from the event have been uploaded to this Flickr pool.

New Mexico's BioBlitz was made possible by the New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science in partnership with the Rio Grande Nature Center State Park and the Nature Conservancy.