Project "The World Water Day 2020 - BioBlitz March 21 to 22"

"World Water Day is an annual UN observance day (always on 22 March) that highlights the importance of freshwater. The day is used to advocate for the sustainable management of freshwater resources. World Water Day is celebrated around the world with a variety of events. These can be educational, theatrical, musical or lobbying in nature." [1]
It is well known that the forms of live we deal with in the earth are all, or nearly all, dependent of the water. Being so, we needed to choose some few to catalog in the World Water Day. We avoided the obvious species that expend all their lives in the water (fishes, algae, for exemple), in favor of some that have have relation to water either in time or space, are around us, and do not demand sophisticated equipments to observe them.
"Amphibians are small vertebrates that need water, or a moist environment, to survive.
The species in this group include frogs, toads, salamanders, and newts. All can breathe and absorb water through their very thin skin." [2]
"Most cacti live in habitats subject to at least some drought. Many live in extremely dry environments, even being found in the Atacama Desert, one of the driest places on earth. Cacti show many adaptations to conserve water." [3]
"Bromeliads often serve as phytotelmata, accumulating water between their leaves. The aquatic habitat created as a result is host to a diverse array of invertebrates, especially aquatic insect larvae. These bromeliad invertebrates benefit their hosts by increasing nitrogen uptake into the plant. [4]
"Nymphaeales, the water lily order of flowering plants, is found in quiet freshwater habitats throughout most of the world.
All plants of the Nymphaeales order are aquatic." [5]

https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/the-world-water-day-2020-bioblitz-march-21-to-22
https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/the-world-water-day-2020-amphibians-bioblitz
https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/the-world-water-day-2020-cactuses-bioblitz
https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/the-world-water-day-2020-bromeliads-bioblitz
https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/the-world-water-day-2020-nymphaeales-bioblitz

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Water_Day
[2] Animal Encyclopedia, National Geographic Book (C) 2012
[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cactus
[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bromeliaceae
[5] https://www.britannica.com/plant/Nymphaeales

Last year's BioBlitz results are in
https://www.inaturalist.org/journal/nelson_wisnik/22703-project-the-world-water-day-2019-bioblitz-march-22-to-24

Posted on February 14, 2020 12:58 AM by nelson_wisnik nelson_wisnik

Comments

@amzapp , @thebark , This might be a fun activity for all-a-yall in TxMN...

Posted by ellen5 about 4 years ago

@billarbon , do you enjoy these sorts of things?

Posted by ellen5 about 4 years ago

@ellen5 Thanks. Need to look for something besides birds. It is too cold this morning to think about pond and water biology and even in a month the amphibians won't be out. But -- the cactus start blooming April into May and I hope to motivate fellow TMNs to document the Escobaria and Echinocereus surviving in the area after all the recent changes in Yellowhouse Canyon. Plan on starting iNat projects for each of those species in and around Lubbock County. @starrgirl @crseaquist @catherine_g @kdhopper @amzapp @kayakqueen

Posted by thebark about 4 years ago

Keep me posted -- we can add my stuff retrospectively, right?

Posted by ellen5 about 4 years ago

The projects will be collection projects that will include everything previously posted. Don't know how obscured observations will work. Will see. Thanks.

Posted by thebark about 4 years ago

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