Results of the 2015 Hills of Gold Biodiversity Survey, Johnson County, Indiana

Abstract

The Central Indiana Land Trust, Inc. (CILTI) and the Indiana Academy of Science (IAS) hosted a biodiversity survey or bioblitz within the Hills of Gold Conservation Area, Johnson County, Indiana, on 16th and 17th May 2015. The 280 ha (695 acres) bioblitz area incorporated the Laura Hare Preserve at Blossom Hollow to the west, Glacier’s End Nature Preserve to the northeast, and a conservation easement connecting the two. Over 65 scientists, naturalists, students, and other volunteers on 13 different taxonomic teams observed and reported 548 taxa during the event. The thirteen taxonomic teams included bats, beetles, birds, fish, freshwater mussels, herpetofauna, small mammals, moths and singing insects, mushrooms/fungi and slime molds, non-vascular plants (mosses), snail-killing flies, spiders, and vascular plants. Three state endangered species were reported, i.e., northern long-eared bat (Myotis septentrionalis), Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis), and the timid sedge (Carex timida). In addition, many state and Johnson County records were reported. This manuscript presents both a brief history of the Hills of Gold Conservation Area and a summary overview of the results. Detailed results are available on the IAS website.