Zooming in your surroundings: Citizen scientists study park in Delft
A group of citizen scientists exploring a park a short bike ride from IHE Delft found no less than 43 different species in just two hours, in a recent action that formed part of a global Home River Bioblitz.
A bioblitz is a communal effort to record a wide variety of species on a specific location within a certain timeframe. In addition to collecting date useful for science and conservation, bioblitzes also aim to connect people with their environments.
On a grey and chilly Thursday in September, IHE Delft PhD candidate Enya Enriquez Brambila led a group of interested people – citizen scientists - to the Arboretum Heempark in Delft, which was built in 1967 and includes a pond and other small bodies of water.
Park Exploration
The 15 participants explored the park together with the help of park ranger Adriaan Smits who helped them recognise the variety of soil, water, vegetation and species that are found in the Arboretum. Participants photographed different kinds of moss, fungi, spiders, frogs and wildlife to share in an app that collects data from bioblitzes.
Enriquez Brambila said the Home BioBlitz had several benefits for organizers and participants alike:
“It encourages citizens to zoom in on their surroundings and to learn more about the biodiversity in and around freshwater ecosystems,” she said. “The event also connects citizens with experts and other volunteers to create conversations about the importance of biodiversity and the need for action to protect our natural ecosystems from human threats.”
It encourages citizens to zoom in on their surroundings and to learn more about the biodiversity in and around freshwater ecosystems
Macroinvertebrates
The group also sampled pond water to see which macroinvertebrates live in it. With support from Maya Daumal, a PhD candidate from Wageningen University who collaborated in the event, they identified species such as crayfish, fish parasites, midges, water boatmen and dragonfly larvae.
But despite these findings, the water in the pond is of poor quality, Enriquez Brambila said. An excess of nutrients favours duckweed to the extent that it forms a green coating on the surface, blocking the sun from reaching into the water. A thick layer of sludge also indicates the water’s poor quality.
The participants uploaded their findings to the iNaturalist platform where they are shared with a broad network of citizens and scientist who benefit from data collected from all over the world.
The biodiversity in the urban park surprised the participants, who reflected on nature’s ability to bounce back and adapt to man-made landscapes, which are common in The Netherlands.
For Adriana Solis, an IHE Delft MSc student, the bioblitz also demonstrated the potential of citizen science.
“Citizens reporting failures in water supply systems could be used to improve global water supply networking, such as leakages which is one of the main reasons of water overconsumption,” she said.
For more detailed information about the findings please visit Delft’s iNaturalist project.
Enya Enriquez Brambila
