The University of Findlay teamed up with Bluffton University for BioBlitz, an event where local nature enthusiasts and experts visited natural areas to take pictures and audio of every species they could.
BLUFFTON, OH (WLIO) - Volunteer researchers spent Saturday documenting biodiversity in local nature reserves.
On Saturday alone, volunteers were able to record the presence of 316 different species across the three nature preserves.
The University of Findlay teamed up with Bluffton University for BioBlitz, an event where local nature enthusiasts and experts visited natural areas in Mount Blanchard, Rawson, and Bluffton to take pictures and audio of every species they could, including birds, insects, fungi, and trees.
They collected their findings with an app that uses AI to identify species, which will later be confirmed or corrected by a human. The data from the project is helpful for future research, conservation efforts, and work for students at both schools.
They collected their findings with an app that uses AI to identify species, which will later be confirmed or corrected by a human.
"Every once in a while, we like to do these to understand what species are there and how they've changed over time. Our nature preserves aren't static, so species are coming and going. At a lot of our preserves, we are combating invasive species, and here at Bluffton University, they've been doing a lot of work to combat those invasives and remove them. So it's nice for them to know what species have grown in place of those invasive species," explained Ben Dolan, a biology professor at the University of Findlay and the director of the Rieck Center for Habitat Studies.
On Saturday alone, volunteers were able to record the presence of 316 different species across the three nature preserves.
