Larose Forest Bio-Blitz

The first Larose Forest BioBlitz took place in June and was organized by the Prescott-Russell Stewardship Council and the Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ Club. Experts in a variety of disciplines
participated in the event. In September, 2006, a small MiniBlitz was held primarily to gather data on fungi and mushrooms, as well as several other taxonomic groups. Both events provided a significant amount of new information about the flora and fauna of Larose Forest. New data was added to existing inventories, and baseline data for taxonomic groups not previously surveyed was accumulated. This information will enable forest managers and others to gain greater insights into the best ways to manage the forest for both forestry and wildlife concerns.

Many other major groups, however, were not surveyed: bacteria, algae, molluscs, non-insect arthropods, round worms, aquatic micro-organisms, and nematode worms. While perhaps not as glamorous as Odonata and Lepidoptera, many of these groups are nonetheless abundant and very important for ecosystem function. Fewer experts are available for many of these overlooked groups of organisms. However, we expect that future BioBlitz events will eventually allow us to accumulate information on all of these groups.

Read the report (PDF, 5.4 MB)

To view PDF files, you'll need Adobe Acrobat Reader