Bioblitz: Assessing urban biodiversity through citizen science in Ankara

Snapshot Solution

by Matthew Koehorst, The Nature Conservation Centre (DKM)

Nature lovers took photos of plants, birds and butterfly species and shared these observations via iNaturalist.

Nature Conservation Center (DKM)

Bioblitz was a citizen science project entailing an intensive biological survey to record as many living species as possible within a designated area over a specific period of time. The project aimed to attract people’s interest in nature and nature conservation issues on the one hand and to reveal the species diversity of the area to be protected on the other. During the activity, which took place on the Middle East Technical University (METU) campus, nature lovers took photos of plants, birds and butterfly species and shared these observations via iNaturalist, a global citizen science application. Experts supported the identification of species.

Last update: 15 Oct 2020

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Context

Challenges addressed

Ecosystem loss

Lack of public and decision maker’s awareness

Scale of implementation

Local

Ecosystems

Green spaces (parks, gardens, urban forests)

Theme

Biodiversity mainstreaming

Mitigation

Connectivity / transboundary conservation

Ecosystem services

Cities and infrastructure

Local actors

Outreach & communications

Location

Ankara, Ankara, Turkey

West Asia, Middle East

East Europe

Impacts

• A total of 91 people including nature lovers, nature guides, experts and members of the project team participated in the event. 1/5 of the 4,500 hectares of land was screened resulting in 1,428 observations.

• In 2018, 267 species belonging to 424 taxa were recorded at the event. The five most recorded species were Anatolian melik (Melanagia larissa), haired flax (Linum hirsutum), pincushions (Scabiosa spp.), Spanish queen (Issoria lathonia), and the mercenary (Teucrium polium).

• In 2019, 1,428 observations were made and 260 species of 335 taxis were recorded. The most observed species were rosehip (Rosa canina), marsh fritillary (Euphydryas aurinia), musk thistle (Carduus nutans), burnet (Zygaena purpuralis), cerinthe (Cerinthe minor). Rosehip and musk thistle, are members of the largest families of flowering plants, daisy and Rosaceae. Marsh fritillary is from the brush-footed butterfly family and the decreasing population in Europe is under protection.