A Peaceful Blitz on the River
A
PEACEFUL “BLITZ” ON THE RIVER
The
single most important event of 2005 was the first Bronx River Bio-Blitz,
which took place in early June and brought together more than 250
scientists, naturalists, elected officials and many volunteers from
Westchester and the Bronx in a 24 hour
intense investigation of the river and reservation, during which almost
700 species of plants and animals were
identified. The species identified included blue cohash, wild ginger,
downy violet and red trillium. An encouraging sign of improving water
quality was the discovery of mayflies in the river at Valhalla. Since
these insects need a certain amount of oxygen in the water to survive,
their existence indicates that the water in the river is recovering its
purity. The Bio-Blitz also revealed that Wood Ducks were nesting on the
river, an important sign that the waterway continues to recover from
years of invasion from aggressive Canada geese. The return of the Wood
Duck suggests that the Parks’ goose-egg addling program over four
years has met with success.
The
participants in the Bio-Blitz included members of the Natural Resources
Group of the Bronx Parks Department, the Bronx River Alliance and
affiliated groups ranging from local Audubon chapters to the Bronx
Botanical Gardens and the Bronx Zoo
The
participants searched for everything that hops, jumps, 
crawls,
flies and waves in the breeze, including birds, mammals, fish, snakes,
turtles, frogs, toads, salamanders, butterflies, dragonflies,
damselflies, trees and shrubs, fungi, fragmities, mosses, and more.
All organisms found were catalogued and the collected data will
contribute to natural resource planning and habitat management for the
Bronx River Reservation.
