Indian Creek Nature Center invites public to document Cedar Rapids wildlife at first BioBlitz

CEDAR RAPIDS — In Iowa, native prairies chock-full of diverse plants, animals and insects used to cover more than 80 percent of the state. Today, less than 1 percent of native prairies remains.

A new event at Indian Creek Nature Center is inviting the public to play a hand in the work that will inform crucial decisions to protect it.

With more than 500 acres of restored woodlands, prairies and wetlands, but only four people on their land management team, Indian Creek Nature Center staff can’t cover the land by themselves. They hope their first BioBlitz, a community-sourced science project that anyone can participate in, will help.

“What we’re asking of them is to be citizen scientists,” said Sydney Foster, land and farm coordinator for Indian Creek Nature Center. “You don’t have to be an expert to find a keystone species.”

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Why does it matter?

As Indian Creek Nature Center celebrates its 50th anniversary, the first-of-its-kind event at the center hopes to take stock of how far its 500 acres have come in half a century.

Although Cedar Rapids and other Midwestern cities have held BioBlitz events in recent years, this new effort at Indian Creek will be its most extensive wildlife survey to date. Previously, the Nature Center has hosted students from Coe College and Mount Mercy University in Cedar Rapids, or has focused only on documenting certain types of wildlife, like butterflies.

For one week, scientific professionals will join lay people in the census.

“While we have had surveys of different biological groups through the years, we never did an overarching survey of all the biological species,” Foster said. “I thought it would be a really cool opportunity to see how far we’ve come in 50 years, and how much biodiversity our managed areas are providing.”

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As Iowa continues to see a decline in many native species due to agriculture and row cropping’s dominance of the state, restored prairies like Indian Creek will play a particularly important role in fostering healthy biodiversity. Because of agricultural practices, many prairie species already are on the endangered species list.

In an area successfully converted from land uses like agriculture back to a prairie, more than 100 species should be present.

With just one snapshot in time, the BioBlitz will become a regular event at Indian Creek, where organizers hope to hold it at other times of the year to provide a complete picture of the wildlife that live there at various points. Foster hopes to hold the next BioBlitz in two years.

Information collected will be used by the land management team to make decisions on how to best care for the land and foster biodiversity — whether than means changing their current approach, implementing new strategies or maintaining existing practices.

How can I get involved?

To get started at the free weeklong event, all you need is a smartphone or a notepad and pen.

Each day, visitors will be encouraged to explore a different area of the grounds, including the newly established Vecny Trail. While exploring, they can write down what they see or use the free iNaturalist smartphone app to snap quick photos to upload to Nature Center staff.

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“They are interacting with the Nature Center in a completely different way than they have before,” Foster said. “By doing this, you’re learning more about what each species does for the environment. Every species contributes something.”

Amazing Space, the Nature Center headquarters, will be open and staffed for extended hours, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., throughout the week to answer questions and help identify plants and animals discovered.

New all-terrain power chairs will be available for people with mobility issues, allowing them to explore trails in ways not possible with traditional wheelchairs. Chairs can be reserved in one-hour increments for up to four hours by calling (319) 362-0664.

Visitors are encouraged to go off trail, but are advised to be gentle with the land and respectful of the wildlife they observe.

Get with the program

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Visitors wanting to learn more about how to identify different species can register for free How to ID sessions. The sessions, led by local identification experts, will allow participants to gain a deeper knowledge of a class of species and the area’s biodiversity.

To register, visit indiancreeknaturecenter.org.

Knowing where to start on 500 acres can be challenging. This suggested schedule of Blitz Areas to explore each day may help.

Visitors also can explore the newly established Vecny Trail in an area of about 40 acres.

Comments: (319) 398-8340; elijah.decious@thegazette.com