Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey NCA Biodiver...

In celebration of the 25th Anniversary of the Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area, we have three Biodiversity Days iNaturalist photo safaris planned. The objective is to use citizen science observations and photos to document the diversity of three important, but often overlooked, components of the Birds of Prey NCA ecosystem: 1) biological soil crust, 2) lizards and snakes, and 3) insects (with particular focus on pollinators). We will use the iNaturalist platform to document what we find.

To get things started, our Biodiversity Days will kick off these citizen-scientist biodiversity projects by having field trips focusing on the three groups (see below), hosted by experts familiar with these taxa in southwestern Idaho. These experts will also serve as lead curators for identifying organisms photographed and uploaded to iNaturalist. The lead curators will be assisted by other expert curators, and some of these other experts might be joining us in the field for our Biodiversity Days events as well.

You don’t need to be a biology expert, nor an expert with your phone/camera or iNaturalist. You can come out with us to learn about biocrusts, snakes and lizards, and insects, or you can be citizen scientists and document your own observations on the Birds of Prey NCA.

Although our initial field trips will focus on the groups above, feel free to add any observations (birds, mammals, etc.) from the NCA area.

At the end of 2018, the Birds of Prey NCA staff will complete a report summarizing what the citizen scientists found, and highlighting any unusual finds or biodiversity hotspots. less ↑