Scanlon Creek is a plant and animal paradise

600 species recorded in a single-day BioBlitz

NEWMARKET, ON – June 29, 2015 – The results are in! On Saturday, June 20, 2015, Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority (LSRCA), Friends of Scanlon Creek, Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, Ontario Streams, The Toronto Zoo, Ontario Nature and a number of other volunteer citizen scientists, nature lovers and community members took on a challenge at the first Scanlon Creek Conservation Area BioBlitz. 

“We are thrilled with the results of this first BioBlitz,” said Brian Kemp, General Manager of Conservation Lands for LSRCA.  “The incredible variety of species living at Scanlon Creek Conservation Area is a really positive indicator of the health of this area. This is important because we know what a huge impact our environment has on our own personal health and well-being!”

A BioBlitz is an intensive biological survey of a specific area with the goal of recording all the living species within that area. These types of events are done over a continuous time period; often 24 hours.

Along with the discovery of The Little Brown Bat, which is considered to be an endangered species in Canada, the Scanlon Creek Conservation Area BioBlitz group recorded 600 different species, including:

• 284 plants and trees
• 205 insects and spiders
• 79 birds
• 12 reptiles and amphibians
• 12 mammals and
• 8 species of fish

Armed with this information, LSRCA and other scientists will be able to track changes over time and watch the potential movement of species of concern.

"It was a wonderful day for novice or expert alike," student Eliza Montgomery noted: "I was happy to help identify so many species and I also learned a lot in the process."