From the first observation of 2020, a Gray Fox still celebrating the New Year at 4:30 AM submitted by ckhunt, to Great Mullein leaves poking out of the snow shared by Pete Kerby-Miller at twilight on the last day of the year, naturalists added nearly 175,000 biodiversity records to our rapidly growing database of life in Vermont.

And, amazing observations kept coming all year long. We had 6,092 naturalists contribute more than 174,597 observations representing 4,073 species verified. Over 3,900 naturalist and experts helped to identify and verify data.

These statistics are 2-3 times higher than any previous year. We've worked hard to recruit new users to the project, from seasoned naturalists to those just learning, and many of you have helped. But surely our work alone can't explain this incredible growth in one year that had so many challenges for all of us. We think we know the answer.

Read whole story about neat discoveries and more on the VCE Blog. menos ↑