THE Coffs Harbour region has come first for the number of species sightings (2555) in the Great Southern Bioblitz (GSB), which was held over four days at the end of October.
In second place was Cape Town (2189 species).
For the number of sightings (9453) the region came seventh, behind the South Africans from Overstrand who managed more than 15,000 observations.
The result is testament to the region’s incredible biodiversity and motivated local naturalists.
“Our region has chalked up its best performance ever in this 6th iteration of the Great Southern BioBlitz (GSB) with improvements across the board,” BioBlitz coordinator for the Coffs Coast Nick Lambert said.
“We have finished top of the ladder with the most species observed over the four-day event.
“We didn’t just creep into the top position either; we blew them out of the water, beating our next closest competitor by more than 500 species.”
Taxonomically, there were disproportionately strong numbers of insects, molluscs, arachnids, ray-finned fishes, Chromista (algae and relatives), and other invertebrates, but under-representation of fungi, amphibians, reptiles, and some plants and birds, observed GSB coordinator Dr Matt Nimbs.
The 110 local participants, who included lots of familiar faces, were responsible for 9500 uploads to the iNaturalist app.
More than 10,500 participants from around the Southern Hemisphere took part this year, reaching a total of almost 300,000 sightings.
So far, nearly 30,000 different species have been identified.
By Andrea FERRARI
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