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 Volume XVIII, Number 3899 Monday, July 07th, 2003

EXPLORING THE ANIMAL KINGDOM IN NYC

PARKS

What kind of wildlife

exists in Central Park? If I

had a doll ar for every time

that question came to us!

People around the world

are especially interested

in what wildlife live in

Central Park, the most

famous, most visited of

our City’s parks. There

have been many surveys

and studies over the

years to investigate birds,

dragonflies, butterflies,

trees, wildflowers, etc.

But never, has there been an event like BioBlitz in Central Park. BioBlitz was a

24-hour species scavenger hunt. It began at noon on Friday, June 27, 2003 and

ended at noon the next day.

All of the park was fair game for searching and was divided into 7 zones. Nearly

300 scientists from many different scientific disciplines were on hand to inspect

every tree, every bush, and every lake and stream for unique plant, animal andinsect species they could categorize. A team of 16 SCUBA divers in The Lake by

Bethesda Fountain looked for aquatic life. We were fortunate enough to have

world renowned SCUBA diver Sylvia Earle of the Explorers Club among the diving

team as well as experts from the NYC Aquarium. There were a several teams of

herpetologists led by David Karmann from the Museum of Natural History. In the

Loch, Harlem Meer and Turtle Pond and they found 5 different species of turtle.

There were quite a few groups of botanists and ornithologists s couring the park

also.

The fun did not end at sundown. While most of the teams dis solved, there were

mamm alogists looking for nocturnal activity with search lights and headlamps in

the Ramble. One scientist, Roland Kays from the New York State Museum,

installed photographic cameras hooked up to motion detectors in the woods to

catch the nocturnal critters in action. Perhaps the most excitement came when

mist nets were put up in the Ramble over Azalea Pond by bat expert, Rodrigo

Medellin of Columbia University. It took a little while but we finally caught four Big

Brown bats in the mist nets. Rodrigo untangled them from the nets and had animpromptu show-and-tell lesson for about 20 people who had gathered to see

the bats. Our resident owl expert, Chris Nagy of Fordham University, was also on

hand to identify several screech owls. With the aid of a CD recording of screech

owl calls, he lured a lovely little owl close enough for the group to get a peek.

All in all it was a memorable 24 hours and we now finally have an answer to that

popular question, what lives in Central Park? The answer is nearly 850 species

of plants and animals, and a great many specimens still to be identified and

categorized. So stay tuned for that number to climb.

BioBlitz was organized and run by Parks & Recreation, the Explorer's Club, the

Urban Park Rangers, the Central Park Conservancy, NYS Biodiversity Research

Institute at the NYS Museum, American Museum of Natural History, NYC

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Audubon Society, Wildlife Trust, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Wildlife Trust, Wildlife

Conservation Society and Microsoft.

Written by Yvonne McDermott 

PARKS & RECREATION REMEMBERS A LIFELONG FRIEND

Anthony Dapolito, a long-time Greenwich Village leader and advocate for parks,

passed away on Tuesday, July 1. Mr. Dapolito (1920-2003) ranked as New York

City's longest serving community board member after having served 44 years as

a member of Manhattan's Community Board No. 2, including an impressive 12

terms as its Chairman. In addition to his local leadership, Mr. Dapolito was theproprietor of Vesuvio Bakery. Among the playgrounds he advocated to be built or

renovated was Bleecker Playground and Thompson Playground, which was

re-named Vesuvio Playground in honor of Mr. Dapolito on January 11, 2000.

QUOTATION FOR THE DAY

"Counting is the religion of this generation

it is its hope and its salvation."

Gertrude Stein

(1874–1946)

Parks: CENTRAL PARK, The Lake, Central Park

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