Community Invited to Chambers Island Research Expedition

Citizen scientists are invited to help collect information about the ecology of Chambers Island in a special BioBlitz event Aug. 5-8.

The Door County Land Trust will hold a joint effort, the Chambers Island BioBlitz, led by staff, researchers and volunteers from Door County Land Trust, Milwaukee’s Urban Ecology Center, UW-Green Bay and the Chambers Island Nature Preserve committee. The groups will collect information about the ecology of the island.

Chambers Island residents assisted as Door County Land Trust staff identified and counted organisms collected in trap nets during a 2016 aquatic invertebrate research project at Lake MacKaysee. Submitted.

The BioBlitz is open to community members who wish to become a “citizen scientist” for a day on Aug. 7 when the Door County Land Trust will offer transportation for participants to and from the island for $25. More information may be found at DoorCountyLandTrust.org/BioBlitz.

Community participants will assist researchers in their survey and learn to use mammal traps, cameras, bird mist nets, acoustic bat detectors, snake boards, insect sweep nets and aquatic sampling nets to locate these species. Results of the BioBlitz measure the health of the Island’s ecology and provide a variety of data on populations of particular species. These facts will be used as comparison for studies of ecology over time and may ultimately show the positive effects of preserving the island and work to restore native plant habitats.

The Chambers Island Nature Preserve protects about 600 acres, and will grow by an additional 95 acres in 2018, making it the largest of the Door County Land Trust’s nature preserves.