Latest news with #CityNatureChallenge
CBS News
16-05-2025
- Science
- CBS News
San Francisco beats Los Angeles in international City Nature Challenge
Each winter in the town of Princeton-by-the-Sea, south of San Francisco and off the coast of Pillar Point, the massive waves at the legendary Mavericks draw elite surfers from around the world. But what lies hidden beneath these cold waters, where the land meets the Pacific Ocean, is equally jaw-dropping. Seen only at low tide, it's a whole different kind of world teeming with treasure and life. "This place is one of the places that you can come at low tide, and you can see the greatest diversity of life," said Professor Rebecca Johnson. Dr. Johnson is the director of biodiversity and community science at the California Academy of Sciences. Jessica Carver is the associate manager of community service and works with Dr. Johnson at the academy. "Every time is so amazing. It's always so different," Carver remarked as she surveyed the massive reef, with multiple tide pools. Recently, at the crack of dawn, a group including Johnson, Carver, and volunteer community scientist Kristi Brakken gathered in the parking lot at Mavericks Beach to document wildlife and participate in the City Nature Challenge. Joining Brakken was her daughter, Kelly. The City Nature Challenge began 10 years ago as a friendly competition between two cities: San Francisco and Los Angeles. Today, it's an international event that involves almost 670 cities and metro areas across six continents. Johnson is a co-founder. The idea is that volunteers around the world photograph as many wild plants and animals as possible in their own communities, on four designated days. "People have made over seven million observations of nature. This gives us an ongoing annual census of where species are across the globe," Johnson explained. She called the location at Mavericks "magical." "You can see this huge diversity of things: you can see seaweeds, crabs, shrimps, sponges, anemones," she said. There's a lot to look at: 650 different species live in the tide pools alone, including ochre sea stars, crabs, California mussels, and all kinds of barnacles and seaweed. But perhaps the most mesmerizing find is the vibrantly colored creatures known as nudibranchs. "This place is an amazing hot spot for diversity," noted Olivia VanDamme, a community science coordinator with the academy. Kelly came to catch and glimpse and was not disappointed. "This officially has made the trip worthwhile," she said as she pointed at one tiny nudibranch and laughed. Kelly Brakken Armed with smartphones, the team snapped pictures of all the wildlife they saw. On their phones, they downloaded a free special app known as iNaturalist. The app allows all the participants to record their observations. The program identified the species and then tallied and shared their findings with all involved in the challenge. The data is important for scientists who study long-term trends. "It's like an early warning system, often in what is going on in these very delicate ecosystems," Lizzy Edson explained. Edson is the biodiversity data manager for the Center of Biodiversity Sciences at the academy and also works with Johnson. After a few hours, the team noticed the rising tides and realized it was time to wrap up their observations and leave. The Brakkens left with a new appreciation. "With the current changing climate, we don't know how long we'll have the ability to see these creatures and see them prospering unless we can make really rapid changes," Kelly said. "So that we can be more aware and take better care of our earth," added her mom, Kristi. The competition ended on April 28. The winners included La Paz, Bolivia, for the most observations and the most participants; Cochabamba in Central Bolivia recorded the highest number of species; and San Francisco beat L.A. in all three categories: observations, participants, and recorded species. But the biggest winner, according to Johnson, is our understanding of nature where or near people live, which is really important for protecting, understanding, and conserving the world's biodiversity.
Otago Daily Times
14-05-2025
- Science
- Otago Daily Times
'My heart soared at the unmistakable sight'
Dr Frank Ashwood was spending his day doing macrophotography on the Port Hills when he made "a very exciting discovery". After hours of overturning decaying wood and discovering native fungi and invertebrates at Kennedy's Bush for Christchurch's City Nature Challenge, Ashwood was getting ready to call it a day. "I turned over one last log, and my heart soared at the unmistakable sight of a giant springtail,' he said. "At only five millimetres long, it was one of the tiniest I've encountered – but big things come in small packages, and this observation has finally put Christchurch on the map for giant springtails.' Ashwood says this find is a sign the bush is being well managed, as the endemic invertebrates are very sensitive to habitat loss and disturbance. "This is a very exciting discovery and great news for the biodiversity value of the Port Hills area. "I've been hoping to find giant springtails around Christchurch for a while now - having photographed them in native bush all around the South Island. "But according to the iNaturalist distribution maps and the scientific literature, they've never been found anywhere near the city." The genus of giant springtails are found only in New Zealand and are the largest in the world. They are usually dark bluish-grey in colour, with distinctive brightly-coloured spine-like projections on their skin. Giant springtails are great decomposers, relying on rotting hardwood logs for food. Ashwood's discovery was one of the 25,322 native fungi and invertebrate observations made across Christchurch and the Banks Peninsula throughout the City Nature Challenge, up on last year's 20,310. The 10th annual global event ran from April 25-28, with a total of 3,310,131 observations from 669 cities across 62 countries. Christchurch City Council community partnership ranger Sarah Mankelow said it was also an amazing weekend for exploring the Ōtākaro Avon River Corridor. "Our evening event at the Climate Action Campus was a huge success with families travelling all the way from Timaru to attend," Mankelow said. "Another highlight was the spotlight walk to the river where Jenny Bond from Te Tuna Toane facilitated a close encounter with tuna/eels." The events included a whānau fun day at Richmond Community Garden, a science exploration of Cockayne Reserve, and a guided tour of the estuary mudflats with council ecologist Andrew Crossland. "It was another stellar weekend with nature lovers from all across the region – we're incredibly pleased with the final results," Mankelow says.
Time of India
07-05-2025
- General
- Time of India
Rare butterflies documented in city nature challenge
Panaji: TOI Rare butterfly species — the Aberrant Oakblue and Banded Royal — were among the standout finds in Goa during the City Nature Challenge (CNC), 2025, that was held last week. The Banded Royal, known for its elusive behaviour and forest habitat, and the shimmering Aberrant Oakblue, a seldom-seen species, were both documented by observer Devesh Naik, who also emerged as one of Goa's top contributors in the event.'The sightings of these exciting additions to Goa's butterfly records are reminders of the hidden wonders that still await discovery in Goa,' said Aditya Kakodkar, state coordinator – Goa for WWF-India. 'The documentation of such biodiversity is very important because without data we cannot fathom the amount of biodiversity or its destruction,' he toldThe CNC encourages participants to observe and document biodiversity by capturing photos of living organisms in their surroundings and uploading them via the 'iNaturalist' app. Given Goa's compact size, the entire state was counted as a single city for the proved to be a haven for biodiversity, emerging among the top performers in the global biodiversity documentation event that ran from April 25 to 28. A total of 20,265 nature observations and 1,927 species were recorded as Goa ranked fourth in India for most observations and fifth for most hundred and fifty-five Goan participants joined the effort, contributing to a vibrant mosaic of flora and fauna that included birds, butterflies, insects, and plants. Leading the charge was Suhani Sahani with 2,224 observations, followed closely by Devesh Naik with 2,167 and Ankush Sahani with 1,740. In terms of species diversity, Devesh Naik again led the charts with 481 unique species, followed by Vithal Naik (405) and Anvay Chati (332).'We need to encourage more people to document the biodiversity of Goa and city nature walks are a great way to do that,' Kakodkar event was coordinated by zoologists Ankush Sahani and Vaishnavi Rajesh Naik, with support from Lisha Da Costa, senior programme officer with WWF-India, who managed the initiative CNC, originally launched by the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County and the California Academy of Sciences, has evolved into a global initiative where cities compete to record the highest number of species and observations. This year, Hyderabad led the Indian cities with a record 33,989 observations, while Nanakmatta in Uttarakhand topped the species count with 2,574.
New Indian Express
04-05-2025
- Science
- New Indian Express
Look-alike species of sea slug found in Visakhapatnam coast after 160 years
VISAKHAPATNAM: A biodiversity documentation exercise during the City Nature Challenge in April this year, has led to what could be the rediscovery of a sea slug species not recorded for over 160 years. Marine biologist Sri Chakra Pranav, who is also the founder of the East Coast Conservation Team (ECCT), came across a translucent, ethereal-looking nudibranch while surveying the coastal waters of Visakhapatnam. Speaking about the discovery with TNIE, Pranav said the sea slug did not match any of the photo records or species previously documented by the ECCT. 'After verifying our data and not finding any match, we referred to historical records, and found an exact match in a British journal published in 1864 by zoologists Joshua Alder and Albany Hancock. The species they had documented, Phidiana unilineata, appeared identical to what we observed,' he said. The nudibranch was reportedly first recorded in Visakhapatnam itself by Alder and Hancock during their study of marine slugs along the South Indian and Sri Lankan coastlines. Since then, there have been no recorded observation or documentation of this species, making the recent sighting potentially significant. Pranav was supported on the field by Dr Deepu Visweswar and Chandra Sekhar, members of the ECCT, while Vishal Bhave, a nudibranch expert, helped in identification. He noted that more research is needed to confirm the rediscovery scientifically. 'This species may be endemic to the Visakhapatnam coast. The region between Visakhapatnam and Srikakulam has rare rocky shorelines that support the growth of hydroids, which are a food source for these sea slugs,' Pranav explained.
Time of India
29-04-2025
- Science
- Time of India
State ranks 4th in nature challenge
Panaji: The City Nature Challenge in Goa concluded on Monday with the state documenting nearly 13,000 biodiversity species in a biodiversity mapping initiative . The global City Nature Challenge saw volunteers help in identifying and recording species of birds, odonates and other biodiversity in their surroundings during the four-day period of the challenge. Due to Goa's geographic area, the whole state's biodiversity is considered as one city. Goa secured the fourth position nationally, trailing behind Telangana (33,155), Kerala (15,756), and Eluru in Andhra Pradesh (13,686), as of now. The nationwide effort saw the participation of 2,892 observers across the country. Goa, however, did better than some 'cities' such as Delhi NCR (12,035), Nanakmatta in Uttarakhand (11,133), Coimbatore (9,890), and Darjeeling (8,027). The participants, comprising 151 observers, recorded living organisms around them by taking a picture and uploading it on the iNaturalist app on their smartphones. So far, the app has uploads of wildlife such as Tufted Grey Langur (Semnopithecus priam) and the Nilgiri Langur (Semnopithecus johnii), varying species of spiders, reptiles, birds and insects, besides different varieties of fruits and flowers. The challenge is expected to contribute towards the understanding of biodiversity. By getting the images identified and validated, participants will contribute towards creating a database for their locality.
