OK BioDiversity Bulletin - 🌸 March 2022

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Oklahoma BioDiversity Bulletin
March 2022

Next Webinar - Phenology and Climate Change

Phenology is the study of the seasonal cycles of biological organisms. In this webinar we will give an overview of this seasonal science and discuss how these interconnected cycles are affected by climate change. Dr. Abby Moore of the OU Bebb Herbarium will present research on how historic plant collections are contributing to our understanding of climate change in Oklahoma. BioBlitz! Outreach Assistant, Claudia Goss will introduce the community science project that you can join and contribute important phenological data.

March 23 at 7:00 p.m. on Zoom.

Webinar will be recorded and available on our website after presentation.

Registration is required.

You can watch recorded webinars and virtual field trips on our YouTube channel!

Oliver's Woods Volunteer Day

Saturday, April 9, 2022, 1-5 p.m.

Volunteers will help mark trails, remove invasive species, and pick up litter at the Oliver’s Woods Natural Area. Oliver’s Woods is 70 acre river bottom woodland adjacent to the campus of the University of Oklahoma in south Norman.

Water, snacks, gloves, and hand tools will be provided.

Event details will be sent to registrants.

Dates for Spring and Summer BioBlitz! weeks are set!

While we still have a few more weeks of winter left, you can start dreaming about the warm weather, migratory birds, and spring wildflowers during our Spring BioBlitz! OK 2022 - April 22-29. We start on Earth Day and celebrate for 8 whole days!

You can also mark you calendar for our Summer BioBlitz! OK 2022 -June 17-24. Summer BioBlitz! overlaps with Pollinator Week. So plan for lots of pollinator activities, events, and special inventory challenges!

iNaturalist Highlights

Tricolored Bat (Perimyotis subflavus) by Phillip Crawford.
This bat is so tiny it is in the suborder called "microbats" weighing less than 1/4 of an ounce on average. This species is the smallest bat in the midwest and eastern US. The condensation droplets on this individual indicates that it has been hibernating for weeks in a small cave in eastern Oklahoma. White-nose syndrome has severely impacted populations of tricolored bats across North America.

The Oklahoma BioDiversity Bulletin and Oklahoma's BioDiversity Learning Center are projects of the Oklahoma Biological Survey.