Media Release - For Immediate Release

June 7 2010

BioBlitz Tracks Diversity at Crystal Crescent Beach

Sydney Smith of Dartmouth shows Saint Mary's Biology student Harrison Moore a Red Bellied Snake that was collected as part of the weekend's BioBlitz at Crystal Crescent Beach.

A 24-hour inventory of plants and animals in a provincial park near Sambro turned up a couple of interesting finds over the weekend.

Researchers participating in the annual BioBlitz, a public outreach exercise spearheaded by Saint Mary’s University, identified more than 183 different kinds of plants, 170 different kinds of insects, and dozens of mammals, amphibians and marine creatures living in large swath of Crystal Crescent Beach Provincial Park.

Hugh Broders, a Saint Mary’s biology professor and co-organizer of the event, said there were at least two notable finds during the event. One group found a wasp that had never been identified in the Maritimes and a second found Japanese Knotweed, an invasive plant that is not native to the province.

“The Knotwood was not something we were hoping to find,” said Chris Miller, a member of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, and one of 70 researchers and students who spent the weekend walking the park property to catalogue its biodiversity. “It is a sign of human disturbance. It’s a sign the natural ecosystem is being disturbed.

About 70 members of the public turned out to help scientist Saturday collect samples on the beach and then watch as they used microscopes and computer data bases set up in a nearby church hall to identify the material collected. More than 600 species were identified by 3 PM Saturday as the event began to wind down.

Malcolm Butler, Dean of Science at Saint Mary’s, said it is important to have accurate inventories of an area’s biodiversity so that as it is studied over time, valid conclusions about its health can be drawn. This is the first time a marine environment has been studied. In previous year’s the efforts have focused on forested and mixed use areas.

This year’s BioBlitz is especially meaningful because 2010 has been designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Biodiversity. A UN report released late last year says biodiversity on the planet is declining at an alarming rate with a 40 per cent reduction in plant and animal species between 1970 and 2000.

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For More Information:

Steve Proctor
External Affairs
Saint Mary's University
(902) 420.5513
E-mail: steve.proctor@smu.ca
www.smu.ca

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