We have followed the example of various Museums in USA, and held a biodiversity blitz day, where we sent all our biologists (Ornithologists, Botantists, Bryologists, Entomologists and Conchologists) to various city parks and botanic gardens for a series of days.  At each site we tried to record as many species as possible.  The aim was stimulating an public interest in biodiversity of their local parks and gardens, as well as showcase the fun of identifying species!

Cheers

Mary
Biodiversity & Systematic Biology, National Museums of Wales



> ----------
> From:         [log in to unmask]
> Reply To:     Conchologists of America List
> Sent:         Thursday, January 22, 2004 14:40 PM
> To:   [log in to unmask]
> Subject:      Re: Liberty spikes
>
> Wedi ei archwilio am feirysau gan Amgueddfeydd ac Orielau Cenedlaethol Cymru. Checked for viruses by National Museums & Galleries of Wales.
>
> Dear "Worldwide";-
>    I'm delighted that you have finally brought shells into the discussion (before someone demanded my execution).
>    You have opened a new can of worms---or snails. One wonders exactly how many species of mollusks might inhabit Liberty Island---or, perhaps, Central Park, or Golden Gate Park. In some of our semi-wild areas bird counts are done on a regular basis by groups devoting a Sunday to the task. Has a group ever done the same for mollusks? Might be a nice task for some club getting bored with their usual programs.
>      Art
> >
> > From: worldwide <[log in to unmask]>
> > Date: 2004/01/22 Thu AM 02:01:17 EST
> > To: [log in to unmask]
> > Subject: Re: Liberty spikes
> >
> > Yes Riccardo, the seven oceans of the world represents the over-arching
> > symbolism of the crown, but Bertholdi also had secondary and tertiary
> > significance in the seven spikes.  Scattered in documents chronicling
> > Bertholdi's life are passages eluding to multiple meanings for Lady
> > Liberty's seven-spiked crown:
> >
> > Frederic Auguste Bertholdi incorporated numerous symbols into his statue.
> > The crown Liberty is wearing has seven spikes and twenty-five windows. The
> > spikes represent the seven major seas and seven major continents. The
> > windows represent the total number of seas (major and minor) and continents
> > in the world. The spikes also represent Heaven's Rays shining over the world.
> >
> > This information came from research compiled during the development of a
> > short historical documentary dealing with monuments in and around New York
> > City, a project that I collaborated on some time ago.  Interestingly, a few
> > historians believe that the secondary and tertiary symbolism credited to
> > Bertholdi may have actually been conceived by immigrants arriving at Ellis
> > Island in New York Harbor.  Many of them envisaged their own symbolism in
> > the statue and some of these symbols may have become attributed to
> > Bertholdi.  [Or maybe this is the stuff that urban legends are made of?]  I
> > had three relatives pass through Ellis Island between 1910 and 1918.  I
> > vividly remember them talking about how overwhelmingly emotional they were
> > when they first saw the statue after sailing across the Atlantic in squalor
> > conditions.
> >
> > I visited Liberty Island last Spring with my daughters and we had an
> > opportunity to look around the grounds.  We found no less than three
> > species of micro land mollusks on the island (Zonitoides arboreus, Vallonia
> > pulchella, and a Punctum sp.).  These snails seem to survive the brackish
> > water spray from the Harbor.  There was not enough time to investigate the
> > extent of the populations.
> >
> > No marine mollusks were visible on the pier pilings or sea walls.  With as
> > much environmental clean up as NY Harbor has undergone in the past 30
> > years, I'm told a significant amount of pollutants still leach into the
> > water even today.  Yet not more than fifteen miles upstream in the Hudson>
> > River, molluscan species are more easily found.
> >
> > Rich
> >
> >
> > At 03:26 PM 1/21/2004, you wrote:
> > >According
> > >
> > >http://www.endex.com/gf/buildings/liberty/libertyfacts.htm
> > >
> > >
> > >Number of spikes in the crown:
> > >Seven rays of the diadem  (7 oceans of the World)
> > >
> > >all the best
> > >
> > >
> > >Riccardo Giannuzzi-Savelli
> >
> >
>
> PLEASE NOTE: My new, long-term, and correct email address is: [log in to unmask] Please update your records!
>
>


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