Editing BioBlitz (section)

==History==
The term "BioBlitz" was first coined by U.S. National Park Service naturalist Susan Rudy while assisting with the first BioBlitz. The first BioBlitz was held at [[Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens]], [[Washington, D.C.]] in 1996. Approximately 1000 species were identified at this first event. This first accounting of biodiversity was organized by Sam Droege (USGS) and Dan Roddy (NPS) with the assistance of other government scientists.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/blitz/kenilw.html|title=Kenilworth BioBlitz Home Page|publisher=Patuxent Wildlife Research Center|accessdate=20 February 2012}}</ref> The public and especially the news media were invited. Since the success of the first bioblitz, many organizations around the world have repeated this concept.

Since then, most BioBlitz contain a public component so that adults, kids, teens and anyone interested can join experts and scientists in the field. Participating in these hands-on field studies is a fun and exciting way for people to learn about [[biodiversity]] and better understand how to protect it.

In 1998, [[Harvard]] biologist [[E.O. Wilson]] and Massachusetts wildlife expert [[Peter Alden]] developed a program to catalog the organisms around [[Walden Pond]]. This led to a statewide program known as [[Biodiversity Days]]. This concept is very similar to a BioBlitz and occasionally the two terms are used interchangeably.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.waldenbiodiversity.com/about/|title=About|access-date=2011-03-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100330072607/http://www.waldenbiodiversity.com/about/|archive-date=2010-03-30|url-status=live}}</ref>

A variation on the BioBlitz, the Blogger Blitz began in 2007. Rather than gather volunteers and scientists at one location, participant blogs pledged to conduct individual surveys of biodiversity. These results were then compiled and mapped. The purpose of this blitz is not to survey down to species level across all taxonomic groups, but rather to raise awareness about biodiversity and provide a general snapshot of diversity.<!-- better refs needed: [http://scienceblogs.com/voltagegate/2007/03/announcing_the_first_annual_bl.php][http://invasivespecies.blogspot.com/2007/03/join-blogger-bioblitz.html] -->

From 2007 through 2016 [[National Geographic Society]] and the US [[National Park Service]] partnered to put on a Bioblitz in a different National Park each year<ref>{{cite web|title=National Geographic|url=http://nationalgeographic.org/projects/bioblitz/|access-date=2016-05-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160518025209/http://nationalgeographic.org/projects/bioblitz|archive-date=2016-05-18|url-status=dead}}</ref> culminating in a Bioblitz across the National Park Service in 2016 as part of the National Park Service Centennial Celebration.<ref>{{cite web|title=National Geographic|url=http://www.nps.gov/subjects/biodiversity/national-parks-bioblitz.htm|access-date=2018-09-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181010154703/https://www.nps.gov/subjects/biodiversity/national-parks-bioblitz.htm|archive-date=2018-10-10|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[iNaturalist]] platform was used as the recording tool for the 2014, 2015, and 2016 Centennial Bioblitzes in this series.<ref>{{cite web|title=iNaturalist|url=https://www.inaturalist.org/stats/nps_bioblitz|access-date=2019-01-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170718122223/http://www.inaturalist.org/stats/nps_bioblitz|archive-date=2017-07-18|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Highlights of the 2016 nationwide BioBlitz include:
* The National Parks BioBlitz—Washington, D.C. was the cornerstone of the national event. Nearly 300 scientists and experts led more than 2,600 students and thousands of members of the general public in all 13 of the National Capital Region's parks. As of the closing ceremony on May 21, nearly 900 species were recorded from this area alone.
* The Biodiversity Festival at Constitution Gardens on the National Mall served as a window to events across the country, with regular live feeds featuring species discoveries on jumbo screens located on the National Mall.
* [[E. O. Wilson]], "father of biodiversity", was a significant part of the pre-BioBlitz events, including the Special Speaker Series at the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the 2016 National Parks BioBlitz Scientist Dinner at National Geographic Headquarters on Thursday, May 19.
* The BioBlitz Dance was a common activity throughout the festival weekend. Participants danced with John Griffith, founder of the dance, on the main stage several times at Constitution Gardens, and on the jumbotron from other park units across the nation.
* National parks and participating partners shared their BioBlitz activities via social media, using the hashtags #BioBlitz2016 and #FindYourPark. During the weekend's event, #BioBlitz2016 ranked in the top 10 on Twitter!
* At Cabrillo National Monument, Green Abalone (''Haliotis fulgens'') was documented. For the past thirty years, abalone have faced substantial conservation concerns due to [[overharvesting]] and disease. Their presence in the Cabrillo Rocky Intertidal Zone can be described as ephemeral at best.
* Knife River National Park conducted an ArcheoBlitz. A centuries-old bison tooth was found at Big Hidatsa Village, which was occupied from about 1740 to 1850. DNA extracted from this tooth can provide data on bison populations before their near-extinction at the end of the 19th century, a useful comparison for managers of modern herds.
* At Great Smoky Mountain National Park, experts teamed up with about 100 5th graders. Together they set out to explore pollinators and succeeded in discovering nearly 200 species. While it is too early to tell if they found any new species, they have added significant information to the park's database.
* Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve conducted a lichen survey and added several new species to their park list. One of those identified is ''[[Xanthoria elegans]]''. This species of lichen survived an 18-month exposure to solar UV radiation, cosmic rays, vacuum and varying temperatures in an experiment performed by the [[European Space Agency|ESA]] outside of the [[International Space Station|ISS]].<ref>{{citation |title=Live long and prosper, Xanthoria elegans  |url=http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEM72XRJR4G_index_0.html}}</ref>
* Channel Islands National Park broadcast a dive with oceanographer and National Geographic Explorer, Dr. Sylvia Earle, with support from the National Park Trust. The feed was featured online and on the jumbotrons on the National Mall and enabled the public to follow the exploration of one of the richest marine ecosystems in the world, the giant [[kelp forest]].
* The National Parks BioBlitz used the iNaturalist app to deliver real-time information on species finds. Verified data will be included in National Park Service databases and international databases tracking biodiversity on the planet. This application can be used by parks and citizen scientists well into the future.
* Beginning with the 2010 NPS/NGS BioBlitz at Biscayne National Park, NPS initiated a corps of Biodiversity Youth Ambassadors. Each year through 2016, a student ambassador is selected by the host park to participate in the BioBlitz and assist in raising biodiversity awareness to their peers and in their home communities. In addition to the new NCR Biodiversity Youth Ambassador, Ms. Katherine Hagan, Ms. Mikaila Ulmer, 11, was selected to be the National Park Service Biodiversity Youth Ambassador representing the President's Pollinator Conservation Initiative for the National Park Service.