National Geographic’s BioBlitz, conducted every year in partnership with the National Park Service, is a hands-on initiative that captures a snapshot of biodiversity in the parks by documenting animal and plant species during a 24-hour period.

This year’s BioBlitz was in California’s Golden Gate National Parks as part of a ten-year countdown to the centennial of the national parks. Led by more than 320 volunteer scientists from across the country, thousands of amateur explorers, families, and students on school field trips conducted a comprehensive inventory of the plants, insects, mammals, birds, and other species that inhabit several national park sites, including Point Reyes National Seashore, Muir Woods National Monument, the Marin Headlands, the Presidio of San Francisco, Mori Point, and Rancho Corral de Tierra.

About 9,000 people, including more than 2,700 school children, participated. The initial scientific species count was 2,304, with well over 8,600 observations recorded. More than 80 species were new to the parks species list, and at least 15 of the species are listed as threatened.

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