[Odonata-l] annual odonate surveys

[Dennis Paulson]

Those on CalOdes, the California odonate listserve, know all about  
this, but I'd like to disseminate the idea.

Kathy Biggs, the Odonata Central of California, has been encouraging  
people in the state to get out there and find all of the species  
known to occur in the state each year. She keeps a running tally of  
species reported, and this year, for example, they have reported 103  
of the 111 species known from the state. This may be the total for  
2006, as the flight season rapidly shuts down. It might prompt  
someone to ask about the status of the 8 species not seen and why  
they weren't. In most cases, it will probably be because no one  
visited the very few places they are known to occur. Alternatively,  
they were sought and couldn't be found, which might be of significance.

This seems to be a great way to encourage people to get out in the  
field, and in addition it prompts those in the field to look for all  
species, common and rare, each year. By encouraging a search for  
every regional species, we can continue to keep track of all species  
in each state (or province, or country), an important monitoring tool  
for those that are rare or peripheral or are known to change in  
occurrence over time. And of course, the more time spent in the  
field, the more we will learn anyway.

Are there any other regions that pursue this survey strategy?
-----
Dennis Paulson
1724 NE 98 St.
Seattle, WA 98115
206-528-1382
dennispaulson at comcast.net

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