By Molly Gautreau, MSc student at McGill University

With the support of the Quebec Centre for Biodiversity Science (QCBS) through the BioBlitz Champion Grant, my lab was able to embark on a wonderful experience at Ouareau Forest Regional Park in the Lanaudière region of Quebec, from July 13 to 16, 2025. The Soper lab BioBlitz was a huge success and ignited a new love for identification in many of our lab members. For those who may be unfamiliar, a Bioblitz is when people come together to try and “record as many species within a designated location and time period as possible”, as described on the iNaturalist information page. 

Although our arrival at the park was met by torrential downpours, we nonetheless pitched our tents and set up camp. We were determined to have a successful trip. After this one “setback”, characterized by the swollen creek and river, the weather was stunning for our observation days. For some members of our lab, it was their first time camping ever, and for others, their first time camping in Quebec. It was a great way to experience the beautiful ecosystems we have access to in this province, and it repaid us by showcasing an incredible amount of biodiversity.

Our days were spent exploring the extensive trails throughout the forest in the Pont Suspendu sector of the park. In only three days, we were able to extensively document and cover over 15km (cumulatively) of trails and areas surrounding our campsite. Nights were spent digging through identification guidebooks and uploading observations to our BioBlitz project on iNaturalist.

One of the goals of our BioBlitz was to meet as many of the challenges put forth by the “Blitz the Gap” team. We had goals to target certain blitzes, primarily: Missing Canadian Insect Species, Make a Splash, Made in Canada, Getting Even, More than a Monarch, Most Wanted. Our group has expertise stemming from lots of different backgrounds, which has made us all invested in different kinds of organisms. We know how important it is to get data on lesser-known, and Canadian, species. While more of a challenge to find (and ID) some of our favourite organisms, we understand that they are just as key to Canada’s biodiversity as the flashier organisms. Organisms like insects, amphibians, mosses, lichens, and aquatic plants often don’t get the love that other megaflora/fauna get, but are integral players in broader ecosystem functioning. In targeting these biodiversity gaps, we had hoped to lessen some of the bias and represent the lesser-known “little” guys.

We were overall successful in capturing a wide variety of organisms. Our group, which was composed of 8 observers, was able to observe 637 organisms of 357 distinct species. Our group added new observations of certain species that had not been recorded in the park before; species such as the American Carrion Beetle, Honeycomb Coral Slime Molds, and a Cedar Waxwing. We were also able to record potential range expansions of five species. At the time of writing, 41% of our observations were of plants, 32% were of insects, and 15% were of fungi. We were even successful in capturing some of the amphibian and aquatic species diversity in the park. To us, this means that we succeeded in completing a major goal of our BioBlitz: representing the little guys!

The opportunity to host our own BioBlitz was an incredibly fulfilling experience. As familiar as we are with fieldwork, we understand that there is no one researcher who can go or be in every single ecosystem on Earth; there’s simply not enough funding or time. Everyone needs to help out where they can, and this can lead to positive impacts on biodiversity data. Getting more people interested in preserving Canada’s species through participation in citizen science can only have a positive impact on the preservation of overall biodiversity. The QCBS Champion Grant facilitated a unique experience for our lab, and will continue to inspire our own contributions to citizen science. We are still in the process of identifying all our observations, so please head over to our BioBlitz page on iNaturalist (Forêt Ouareau BioBlitz 2025) on iNaturalist if you would like to help us out!