Today was my only day off this week, and I had planned to do my Blogger BioBlitz survey today, trying to find how many of each different species — plant, animal, fungi and anything in between — live within the small area I chose to survey (the garden at First Unitarian in New Bedford). We had heavy downpours most of the day, so I had to cut the survey short. In between rain squalls, I took as many photos of living things as possible; I also relied on photos and notes I had taken earlier in the week when I was surveying the area. Unfortunately, the weather meant that I didn’t have time to search out many animals (e.g., I wasn’t able to dig up some soil and look through it for invertebrates, etc.).

My identification of many plants was hampered because it’s still early in spring and many plants have just begun to emerge from dormancy or sprout from seeds; and only a few of the flowering plants were actually in flower. I’m thinking I may continue with this survey of living things over the course of the summer, to see if I can do additional identifications.

I’ve included my list of organisms below, arranged in rough taxonomic order. Over the next week, I’ll be working on further identifications as well as filling in the taxonomic order, and when done I’ll update this entry. (Final update, 28 April, link to final data sheet included.)

Video tour of the site.
Photos from field work.
First post on Blogger Bioblitz 2007.
Second post on Blogger Bioblitz 2007.

Living organisms found in the garden at First Unitarian in New Bedford, Massachusetts, during Blogger BioBlitz week.

Latitude: 41.634°N — Longitude: 70.930°W
Approx. area covered: 0.2 hectare.
Field work was done: 23 April, 4-5:30 p.m. EDT; 27 April, 3:00-4:00 p.m.
Weather: 23 April, Sunny, 15 C. — 26 April, heavy rain, 11 C.
All field work done by Dan Harper. Total observer hours: 2.5.
Obviously cultivated plants not included (i.e., daffodils, tulips, flowering trees and shrubs, etc., were not included).
An asterisk * indicates that a photo is available.
Download the final data sheet as an Excel file: Link.

Animal kingdom

Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Primates
Family: Hominidae Homo sapiens (Human Being)

Order: Rodentia
Family: Sciuridae Sciurus carolinensis (Eastern Gray Squirrel) *

Class: Aves
Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Larinae Larus argentatus (Herring Gull) *

Order: Columbiformes
Family: Columbidae Columba livia (Rock Pigeon) *
Zenaida macroura (Mourning Dove)

Order: Passeriformes
Family: Turdidae Turdus migratorious (American Robin)

Family: Sturnidae Sturnus vulgaris (European Starling)

Family: Fringillidae Carpodacus mexicanus (House Finch)

Family: Passeridae Passer domesticus (House Sparrow) *

Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Crustacea
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Isopoda
Suborder: Oniscidea

Family: ? Woodlouse, sp? *
[With over 10,000 species of woodlice, I don’t expect to ID genus, let alone species!]

Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Superfamily: Scolioidea

Family: Formicidae Ant, sp? *
Ant, sp? *
Ant, sp? *
[My field guide to insects does not go below the family level on ants.]

Order Diptera?
Family: ? Fly, sp? *

Order: ?
Family: ? Unknown insect *

Kingdom: Protista or Plantae

Green algae, sp? *

Kingdom: Fungi

Division: Ascomycota
Class: Ascomycetes
Order: Lecanorales
Family: Physciaceae Phaeophyscia ciliata? (lichen) *

Unidentified crustose lichen *
Unidentified fruticose lichen *

Kingdom: Plantae

Division: Bryophyta
Class: Bryopsida
Order: Dicranales
Family: Dicranaceae Dicranum scoparium (Dicranum moss) *

Order: ?
Family: ? Moss, sp? *

Division: Lycopodiophyta
Class: Lycopodiopsida
Order: Lycopodiales
Family: Huperziaceae Huperzia porophila/Lycopodium lucidulum (Rock Clubmoss) *

Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Liliopsida
Order: Poales
Family: Poaceae 3 unknown grasses *

Subfamily: Panicoideae Digitaria ischaemum (Smooth crabgrass)? *

Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Fagales
Family: Fagaceae Quercus rubra (Red Oak) *

Order: Malvales
Family: Malvaceae Tilia americana (Basswood or Linden) *

Order: Sapindales
Family: Sapindaceae Acer saccharinum (Silver Maple) *

Family: Simaroubaceae Ailanthus altissima (Chinese Sumac) *

Order: Asterales
Family: Compositae/Asteraceae Taraxacum officinale (Common Dandelion) *
Taraxacum erythrospermum? (Red-seeded Dandelion) *
Hypochoeris radicata? (Cat’s ear) *

Order: Fabales
Family: Leguminosae/Fabaceae Trifolium incarnatum (Crimson clover)? *

Order: Solanales
Family: Solanaceae Solanum dulcamara (Bittersweet)

Order: Malpighiales
Family: Violaceae Viola sororia (Common Blue Violet) [N.B.: Peterson Field Guide and others have this as Viola papilionacea.]

Class: Lilliopsida
Order: Liliales
Family: Liliaceae Allium vineale (Wild Garlic) *

Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Caryophyllaceae Stellaria media (Common Chickweed) *

Order: Asparagales
Family: Hyacinthaceae Muscari botryoides (Grape hyacinth — not found in any cultivated areas, so I’m counting this as an escaped species.)

Unknown plant in flower *

*****
Reference works:

Mammals: Mammals of the Eastern United States, Whitaker and Hamilton. 3rd ed. Cornell Univ, 1998.

Birds: AOU Checklist and Birds of Eastern and Central North America, Peterson. 5th ed. Houghton Mifflin, 2002.

Woodlice: None.

Insects: Insects, Borror and White (Peterson Field Guide Series). Houghton Mifflin, 1970. This guide proved to be less than adequate, since it generally identifies only down to the Family level.

Lichens: http://www.lichen.com/portraits.html

Dicranum mosses: http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=DICRA8

Vascular plants:
A Field Guide to the Ferns and their Related Families, Cobb. Houghton Mifflin, 1956.
A Field Guide to Wildflowers of Northeastern and North-central North America, Peterson and McKenny. Houghton Mifflin, 1968.
The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Wildflowers: Eastern Region, Niering and Olmstead. Knopf, 1979.
Common Weeds of the United States, USDA. Dover, 1971. Original title: Selected Weeds of the United States.
Trees of the Eastern United States and Canada, Harlow. Whittlesey House, 1942.