BLISS [Biodiversity and Landscaping – Isopods and Sn...

What is BLISS?
Biodiversity and Landscaping – Influence on Isopods and Snails and Slugs (BLISS) is a community science project that aims to catalogue the biodiversity of land snails, slugs, and isopods in residential yards across Southern California. “Community science” is the practice of involving everyone in the scientific process. By conducting a 30-minute survey (details below), together we will be able to assess how landscaping influences the distributions of these species.

Your Goal:
To take photos of as many different types of slugs, snails, and isopods that you have in your residential area in a 30-minute period.

How to Participate:
Please see the detailed protocol below for instructions on how to conduct the survey. When you are done with your survey, there are two ways for you to share your photo observations with me; you can send them through email (at kamn2015@mymail.pomona.edu), or you can upload them through the “iNaturalist” app on your phone. For an introduction to making iNaturalist submissions, please watch this video: https://vimeo.com/162581545. There are step-by-step instructions for using iNaturalist below as well. As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me through email!

Detailed Survey Protocol:

1. Choose your survey area. Pick an area in your yard (or if you live in an apartment building, by your residence) that is all a single type of habitat. For example, if you have a lawn next to a succulent garden, pick one of the two. You can always do a second survey of another part of your yard if you are willing to do more than one survey.
2. Decide how many people will conduct the survey. We request that you survey the area for 30 “person minutes”. This means that one person can search for a full half hour, or you can put together a team: 2 people can search for 15 minutes each, 3 people can search for 10 minutes each, etc.
3. Fill out the questionnaire. Before starting your search, fill out this questionnaire (https://forms.gle/k3En7NPJ923dVRed6), which will help us classify the area you survey. It will also provide you a space to upload photos of your survey area.

4. Conduct your survey. You are now ready to start searching! Set a timer for 30 minutes (or less, if you have more than one searcher). As you search, take a picture of each new slug, snail, or isopod that looks different. Remember, the goal is to collect all the different species in your yard, not all the individuals. Most of you have probably seen a snail or a slug before; both are small, soft-bodied creatures, and snails have a shell used to protect themselves that slugs do not. Isopods, on the other hand, have rigid, segmented bodies (think of roly-polies) of which there are nearly 4,000 species. To identify an isopod, look for two pairs of antennae and an armor-like body with seven segments that each have a set of legs.
   If you find a large group of individuals of the same species (for example, 50 roly polies under a rock), then snap a photo that clearly shows at least one of the individuals in the frame, then estimate how many individuals were present. Look under rocks, on plants, under leaves, in cracks, under hoses, and don't be afraid to move things around as you search. Make sure you look just as closely in places that are difficult to get to as places that are easier, since this could affect your survey results! For more details on how to do an effective search, please see this video: (https://app.vidgrid.com/view/J6rjEJ16iEfZ/?sr=0JP3fdL9ZVKz).

5. Upload your results using iNaturalist. Your timer’s gone off; time to upload your results! You can send them to me through email (kamn2015@mymail.pomona.edu) or follow these steps:
   • From the homepage on the app, tap "more" at the bottom of the screen.
   • Choose "Projects", and then search for "BLISS [Biodiversity and Landscaping – Isopods and Snails and Slugs]”.
   • Tap "Join" to become a member. You will not be able to submit photos until you have become a member of the project.
   • Go back to your homescreen and click the "Observe" button that has a camera icon at the bottom of the screen.
   • Choose the photo you want to upload.
   • Under the submissions details go to "Projects" and choose the "BLISS" project you just joined by moving the slider on the right of the project name until it turns green.
   • A drop down menu will pop up. For “Timed Survey?” Select the “Timed Survey” option. For the “Timed Effort” type in 30.
   • Click the back button on the top left.
   • Click the green “Share” button at the bottom of the screen. Repeat for each submission.
   • We understand that navigating iNaturalist can be a tricky component of the process, and want to emphasize that we are here to assist you if you need help. Contact Kyra at kamn2015@mymail.pomona.edu with any questions.

IMPORTANT NOTES: You might not find any slugs, snails, or isopods during your survey. That is still very important for us to know! If you don't have any pictures to upload, please send an email to Kyra at kamn2015@mymail.pomona.edu letting me know that you completed the survey and did not find any species. This will be helpful for understanding not just which species are present, but which ones are not as well.
Congratulations! You just took part in a scientific study.

What’s Next?
After you complete your survey, we will send you information about the species you found, and provide updates with information on the distribution of individuals that you found during your survey. The data you collect will be very useful for learning more about how different species react to urban and suburban environments. We really appreciate your efforts! As this will be a part of a senior thesis project, we will also invite you to Kyra’s talk at the end of the Spring semester.
Why is this project important?
Snails and slugs are an incredibly diverse group of organisms (second to only insects in overall number of named species!) that can occupy a wide range of environments, making them commonly found in both natural and human-inhabited areas all over the world. Unlike other common groups, such as beetles or spiders, most snails, slugs, and isopods have been fairly well described, meaning that we’ll most likely be able to identify the different species you find.
Unfortunately, not much is known about how landscaping choices in suburban and urban areas of Southern California affect which species are present, as each yard looks different and has its own group of species that is different from those around it. However, we do know that slugs and snails are generally desiccation intolerant, meaning that they are sensitive to periods of drought and changes in humidity. Because of this, we think that your location (coastal vs. inland), the types of plants you have, and how you water your yard all play an important role in determining what snails, slugs, and isopods are in your garden.
Thank you for your support. If you have any questions, please reach out to me (Kyra at kamn2015@mymail.pomona.edu). Your survey will contribute to better understanding the factors that influence distributions of these unique creatures across Southern California! less ↑