BioBlitz Begins
You can help UVLT identify and inventory the natural resources on our Lyme Hill Conservation Area! We’ve launched a year-long bioblitz! On June 10th, 16 enthusiastic naturalists gathered at Lyme Hill to help collect information about the biodiversity using a smart phone app called iNaturalist. Over the course of three hours in the field, they recorded nearly 700 observations of 240 different species! This confirmed what many already knew about the property, which is that it is a biological hotspot with incredible biodiversity.
This conservation area is nestled along both sides of a ridge south of the village of Lyme, NH and has fields, upland forests of varying ages and types, two wetlands, vernal pools and a brook draining into the Connecticut River. All of which lies on bedrock, which makes for some unusual species occurrences.
Going forward, we’ll use the biodiversity data to inform our management activities sat Lyme Hill. For example, if we were to consider a new trail, we would consult this data to make sure the trail location avoided any rare, threatened, or endangered species, or sensitive habitat. Additionally, we can keep track of invasive species at Lyme Hill and nip any new occurrences early before they become entrenched. We will also be able to tell if our mowing management is increasing the biodiversity of the field at Lyme Hill as we hope.
The key to using this platform as a management guidance tool is lots of data! This is where the community comes in. Anyone can help UVLT learn more by downloading the iNaturalist app, and making observations when you visit Lyme Hill — take photos, or sound recordings, and upload them to iNaturalist.
Access is available on both the eastern and western side of the property and there is an established trail network through the property. There is a parking lot along Route 10 just south of the village on the eastern side. On the western side, there is a small pull off along the CT River located just south of Grant Brook (accessible only from the south, as the road is closed from the north). A trail south of the pull off enters the property.
To see what we’ve found so far, visit our Lyme Hill Bioblitz project. Also, keep an eye on UVLTs calendar of events, as we’ll plan to run more group bioblitz days over the coming months. If you’d like to connect with UVLT to volunteer your time to collect data at Lyme Hill, and would like some training on using iNaturalist, email contactus@uvlt.org
