ReGreen Springfield

Regreen team members collect samples from the water at Abbey Brook during the Bio-Blitz.

Over 100 participants joined forces in a fun, scientific and educational “BioBlitz” on Thursday at the Abbey Brook Conservation Area, where they helped identify and inventory wildlife, tree and plant species. Abbey Brook is a watershed in the East Springfield Neighborhood.

Regreen Springfield, along with the Sustainable Springfield Partnership conducted the event at the conservation area, with the staging site located behind Springfield Renaissance High School. The conservation area is home to birds, bees, trees, fish, turtles, skunk, squirrels, and various other living things, and has been the focus of an ongoing restoration project by Regreen Springfield and its parters.

A BioBlitz is a defined period of biological surveying in an attempt to record all the living species within a designated area.  During the BioBlitz, teams counted, measured, photographed and recorded information on all of the living things found, assisted by scientists and field professionals. Over 80 different species of plants, animals, and other living organisms were found during the day-long event. The event also involved the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Forest Service, the Springfield Conservation Commission, the Springfield Science Museum, Renaissance High School, Holyoke Community College and other community partners.

To view more photos, and a short video that captures the day’s activities, visit http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2017/07/bioblitz_finds_scores_of_creat.html#incart_river_home