BioBlitz 2017 at the Cayuga Nature Center (Ithaca, NY). BioBlitz 2017

A BioBlitz is an event that focuses on finding and identifying as many species as possible in a specific area over a short period of time. In 2017, scientists, families, students, teachers, and enthusiasts had 24 hrs to collect a snapshot of the biodiversity within the grounds of the Cayuga Nature Center located in upstate New York (Tompkins County). Participants used aseptic technique to collect a diverse array of samples, including forest and meadow soil, rhizosphere, phyllosphere from various plants, decomposing litter, pond water, stream water, stream biofilm, basidiocarp, lichen, animal skin and feces, bird pellet, and whole insect. The resulting collection contains 185 unique samples, yielding a total of 25,863 unique amplicon sequence variants. Soil and the phyllosphere contained the greatest diversity ofbacterial species.