Results of a Biodiversity Survey at Goose Pond Fish and Wildlife Area, Greene County, Indiana

Abstract

Presented here are the results of a biodiversity survey held on July 16–18, 2011 at the Goose Pond Fish and Wildlife Area, Indiana Department of Natural Resources, in Greene County, southwestern Indiana. Fifteen teams (14 taxonomic teams and a biogeochemistry team) surveyed the flora and fauna of ponds, marshes, fields and forest of the ,8,000 acre site and reported 896 taxa: 862 species [20 amphibians and reptiles, 37 bees, 73 beetles, 122 birds, 48 butterflies, nine damselflies, 21 dragonflies, 39 species of fish, four freshwater mussels, five fungi and allies, 27 mammals, 74 moths, four snail-killing flies, 379 vascular plants), 16 families of aquatic macroinvertebrates, and 18 genera of plankton. A total of 215 new county records and numerous state-listed species were recorded. The baseline information provided by the survey will inform future management decisions and indicates that the restoration is maturing rapidly and successfully capturing the biological diversity of this portion of southwestern Indiana.