|
Video Time Bioblitz: Life in 24 hours
Narrator:Welcome to Rock Creek Park. It's a big park in the middle of Washington DC. Today, this park is going to be the site of a big research project. Dozens of scientists from around the United States along with hundreds of volunteers are here for something called a Bioblitz. In a Bioblitz, teams of scientists, parents, kids, and volunteers all go to a park and look for examples of everything that's alive there. They work in teams to count every living thing that they find from the big animals like deer and rabbits to tiny plants. But they only have 24 hours o do it. Dr Stuart Pimm, an ecologist from Duke University, is certainly excited about the event. He studies biodiversity.
Dr Pimm:The extraordinary thing about this Bioblitz is just how much stuff there is here! This is really where the wild things are. There really is a huge amount of stuff in this city park.
Narrator:Park rangers are there to help. Here, they are helping a group to catch caterpillars, spiders, and butterflies. Insects are an important part of the Bioblitz. One reason is there are a lot of them. They also come in a great variety of colour, shapes, and behaviours. It's easier to see how special they are when you look at them close up. Photographer David Littschwager usually takes photos of endangered species, but at the Bioblitz he's taking photos of insects.
David Littschwager: We see a lot of pictures of lions and tigers and bears but you don’t often see a portrait of a spider nice and close. Some people don't like spiders, but I have great affection for them. But I like them to stay on the glass.
NarratorLittschwager worked all night taking pictures, but he wasn’t the only one who didn't sleep. People had only 24 hours to find all the living things in the park so all the participants worked hard until the final minute. And even at the end, there were a lot of plants and creatures that they couldn’t identify. The real purpose of the Bioblitz is to get people interested in the biodiversity that’s all around them even in their own backyards. So, what are you waiting for? The clock is ticking. Isn't it time to start counting the living things in your backyard? |
|
