July 1, 2003
Critters Galore!
The Wildlife Conservation Society, the Explorers Society and several other groups recently held BioBlitz in New York City's Central Park to catalog all of the species that live there. At last count, 838 different species were identified in a single day, including two species of tardigrades, the "bear of the moss." They're about the size of the period at the end of this sentence, but they're practically indestructible - these suckers could survive through freezing, dehydration, even a trip through outer space.
They also found an enormous snapping turtle, but I can't find a photo of it to link here - sorry! I still don't think I could live in NYC, but at least I now know that there IS an enormous amount of wildlife in the park!
Posted by natalie at July 1, 2003 2:55 PM | TrackBacksome of the fun experiments they have done with peeps include "peep jousting," which involves sticking toothpicks into 2 peeps, and sticking the peeps into the microwave to see which one gets skewered first. :) heh.
Posted by: allison at July 2, 2003 8:49 PMThat's awesome! Maybe I should do a blog entry on Peeps and all the experiments that have been done. I really do have a friend of a friend who had a peeps centerpiece at her wedding!
Posted by: natalie at July 1, 2003 10:42 PMThose little bears are wicked cool! I think they should make a PEEPS version of them (the other indestructable form on this planet).
Posted by: Jason at July 1, 2003 5:23 PMThere's no question that Rock Creek would beat the pants off of Central Park! It's bigger, for one, has a river running through the middle of it, and most of all, it's connected to other ecosystems. I wonder if we could get the Explorer's Club and several of the DC-area conservation groups to do a Rock Creek bioblitz to find out? Hmmmm...
And ok, yeah, I do love the public transport, but I'm learning that I can travel on my own steam, too (rode my bike in to work today)! But this chick would head for the hills (or mountains, or savannahs, or tropical forests) in a SECOND if she could!
Posted by: natalie at July 1, 2003 5:12 PMNatalie, I know that you're a city girl at heart. All this tree-hugging aside... you know you love public transportation, the smell of humid fog in the Code Red morning, and the dull hazy sky that is a city noontime. I think you're simply in denial!
I wonder what would happen, though, if you compared the amount of wildlife in Central Park to the wildlife in Rock Creek Park. Would there even be a competition? And... how many kinds of pigeon do you think they counted in that 838?
Posted by: CJ at July 1, 2003 5:08 PM