In instances where it is desirable to use the term “BioBlitz”, you can always make it more self-explanatory by adding “survey”. A BioBlitz survey requires much less explanation that a BioBlitz.
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Got me humming Nature Boy (Nat King Cole version) and Ramblin’ Man (Allman Bros.) now.
I for one like the term BioBlitz. It sounds a lot more fun than a Bio Survey. I associate the term ‘blitz’ with speed (like in chess), not destruction. And for me, a BioBlitz feels like a fast-paced event, but maybe that’s because I’m a bit competitive :) I also remember back when the norm was for all observations and identifications to be completed within a single day. iNaturalist BioBlitzes are a bit more leisurely!
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Blitz means fast, I’m pretty sure it’s easy to see it’s not related to Blitzkrieg. But why they thought it’s about dissecting is a question for me when you say that we go and photograph everything we see, e.g plants and birds, depending on theme, there’s nothing about dissecting in it and you can specifically state, that smartphone is all they need.
I don’t like -survey at all, it sounds technical and as if we were really studying what is there, while we don’t and mostly don’t use any scientific methods, so it’s not a surveysurvey, plus how are you going to translate it?
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Good alternatives could be something in the line of “Biodiversity Discovery” or “Nature Discovery”, something more clear and appealing to the large public.
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I share the connotation with blitz, and wish the term would be more self-explanatory to the uninitiated, but… it’s become a de-facto standard so I use the term as an organizer and participant. Those that are unfamiliar with the term can look it up, which is a huge advantage over newly invented terms. It also has the huge advantage of not needing a translation in other languages.
I have seen the use of “species hunt” (translated from Norwegian) as an alternative, which I think has even stronger negative connotations and ambiguity. I have yet to see a participant joining a BioBlitz thinking we were going to invade a neighboring country ;)
Unless the community comes up with something as catchy, but more self-explanatory, I think BioBlitz is here to stay.
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BiioBlitz is certainly easier to use than All Taxa Biological Survey or Everything Living (or Recently Living) Survey.
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I didn’t realise we were expected to rush from species to species.
Blitz does sound like a mission to kill whatever we can find.
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Well, there’s also the Ballroom Blitz, let’s not forget that important information.
I like the term BioBlitz. Not only does it perfectly describe what’s going on in two alliterative syllables, but it’s fun and quick and I for one think the confusion it generates is a great way to start a conversation. After you explain what it is, no change in the phrasing will transform people who think going out in nature is weird or that bugs are gross into naturalists. You can call it Tom Hanks’ Amazing Bio-Discoveries, and a significant portion of people won’t like it, let alone go out and do it. Changing the term of something doesn’t really change anything. BioBlitz or Bio-count or Bio-a-thon or Life Count will all engender the same confusion, the same accusations of being overly technical and probably the same calls to give it a different name. You aren’t going to get people to like science by calling it Fun-Observation-Thinking Time. The idea of going out in nature and trying to find as many life forms as possible is just mind blowing to people who just don’t know that life exists outside themselves and their pets. No change of term will alter that fact. So maybe it’s good that BioBlitz is a little confusing, in the same way that a poem can be confusing or a painting. It’s a good chance for us to explain the world around us.
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I like the term BioBlitz and haven’t run into anyone who found it problematic. I think the general public might be confused by what the activity entails regardless of what you call it, until it is explained. The term “blitz” does have some aggressive nuances, but also includes such activities as a “shopping blitz” or “advertising blitz” which I think most people can envision as a directed and rapid action.
Interestingly, Merriam-Webster has one definition for “blitz” which I hadn’t heard before: “an occurrence in which large numbers of fish gather to chase and feed on prey or bait”.
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Well, if you wish for an alternative, in Lithuania similar events are called “Species rally”.
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I regularly use the term “Bioblitz” when promoting events. When asked what “bioblitzes” are, I describe them as a “bioinventory” of an area with a defined duration of time (example: A single park or property investigated for 3 days only). For park/property collection projects that are contiguous, I refer to them as “park bioinventories”.
I also often head out for short walk and refer to it as a “blitz” to see how many species and observations I can make in a single go. Last week I challenged myself to a “1 Hour Blitz” and was able to make 94 observations (60 species)… Not for the faint of heart! This idea had me wondering if others might be interested in a 60 minute bioblitz organized across the world. I have my average speed worked out to 2.1 km/hr so I’m really not moving fast nor far.
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As long as those species don’t try to storm the Capitol, it’s all good.
Birders have the term Big Day (and Big Year). And then lepidopterist Robert Pyle applied the same term to butterflying. But that might be even more cryptic to those not in the know.
There is also the Christmas Bird Count. But I think it would be unwieldy to try to adapt that term to include all taxa.
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Great discussion all round! I realise I am not attracted to the activity anyway, having a great mistrust of moving human feet in proximity to lots of plants, especially feet attached to non-plant-aware eyes. But I must say that I withdraw my objection, though I do like the term Species Rally, which is descriptive of both the congenial competition presumably intended, and the aspect of nature that is to be observed…ie species.
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I love the word bioblitz, the alliteration of it is particularly appealing. Having organised, participated in and written about them for over a decade, I’ve become very familiar with the use of the word. I don’t like it when writers capitalise either the first and/or second b, unless you are referring to a specific event such as the “Port of Spain Bioblitz 2016”. I also refer to the participants as bioblitzers but haven’t really used the blitz part by itself. Like many here I’ve never heard of anyone complain about the word although I have had to explain the concept many times which is a great way of raising awareness.
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Totalmente de acuerdo, en España usamos la palabra “Biomaraton”. Describe perfectamente un evento puntual, de un tiempo concreto y relacionado con nuestra Biodiversidad.
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i like the alliteration, and i like the “bio” part, but the “blitz” part is somewhat confusing to me because some bioblitzes are not necessarily quick exercises (nor should most bioblitzes necessarily be quick exercises, if you consider the time needed to properly identify), and because “blitz” reminds me of an attack or invasion (from sports or warfare).
keeping the alliteration, i though for a moment about “snap survey”, where snap can refer to both “quick” and also the action of “snapping a photo”, but in my mind, “survey” refers to a more methodical activity than what usually happens in these kinds of events.
switching out “survey” with a shortened version of “catalog”, which i think is more descriptive of these kinds of events, you get “snap cat”, which is probably too close to “SnapChat”. and either way, with both “snap survey” and “snap cat”, you still have the problem of the events not necessarily being quick events, and it’s also not obvious that you’re looking for nature or wildlife.
so if you switch out “snap” with “wild”, then you get “wild cat”, short for “wildlife catalog”. i think this is actually the most descriptive of what happens in these kinds of events, and i kind of like the sound of wildcatting on iNat. there are other existing meanings of “wildcat”. in my area (Houston, the home of many oil & gas companies), it suggests someone – a lone wolf or a small company (not usually the established companies) – going out to unexplored land (or land not known to be productive) to look for oil or other minerals. and other usages of wildcat also connote doing things outside the establishment or established rules, i think. so i think that’s similar to what’s happens in one of these events.
the downside of “wild cat” is that it wouldn’t be super obvious to the uninitiated what it means (searching for oil? looking for cats?), and although it could be used as a verb (“wildcatting”), it doesn’t feel like it could be used to describe the event itself without adding another word (“wildcat event”), whereas bioblitz or “biosurvey” could be used both to describe the action and the event.
that said, i don’t know that we should be limited to one term or phrase. if there are more appropriate or catchy names, then i think it would be fine to use something else. for example, if someone organized an event that was half bike ride (to cover a larger area), i think “Ride and Seek” might be a fun way to describe that.
I was going to say that in Spanish we don’t have a equivalent(?) word for Bioblitz, but I think BioMaratón is a really good translation (Haven’t seen it before). In my country organizers just use the same term and explain it after.
“Reto Naturalista” has been also used to name this projects but I think one can associate it more with registering a lot of species but not necessarily with it been in a short time (the second is not inherently in the name).
I have to admit that I haven’t looked before the meaning of Bioblitz as I saw it first in iNat.
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I like BioMaratón or BioMarathon.
Not to be confused with a Biathlon (biatlón), where you ski and stop to shoot, although the two events might have similarities. ;-)
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I share the attraction of competition and speed in a BioBlitz. Explaining it to a newcomer, I say it’s a speed survey, challenging participants to find and identify as many kinds of organisms as we can in the time limit. I’m taking a page here from the City Nature Challenge projects-- I think they’re fun in part because of the competition between regions.
But I do see the problems in using a term that could be loaded negatively for some folks. I’m glad this was brought up, it’s good to be aware of connotations and unintended interpretations.
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