Great Southern Bioblitz Region Report: Oceania

Oceania was one of the strongest contributing regions in the Great Southern BioBlitz 2025, recording 115,695 observations, 16,963 unique taxa, and 5,687 observers, with an average of 2.98 taxa per observer. The large observer base highlights broad community participation across Australia, New Zealand, and surrounding islands, while the high number of unique taxa reflects Oceania’s diverse ecosystems and strong capacity for biodiversity documentation at scale.

Table 1 Overall summary of Oceania (GSB 2025)

Observations	Unique taxa	Observers	Taxa per observer
115695	16963	5687	2.98

Seasonal Trends Across All Years

Across all GSB years, Oceania has shown sustained growth in both participation and biodiversity coverage. Observations increased from 25,209 (2020) to 115,695 (2025), while unique taxa rose from 5,155 to 16,963 over the same period. The decline in taxa per observer (from 6.86 in 2020 to 2.98 in 2025) aligns with rapid growth in participation and suggests the BioBlitz is engaging an increasingly broad audience, including many newer participants contributing smaller numbers of taxa, an expected pattern in expanding community science programs.

Table 2 Seasonal summary of the GSB in Oceania across all years

Year	Observations	Unique taxa	Observers	Taxa per observer
2020	25209	5155	751	6.86
2021	63228	11789	2663	4.43
2022	57941	11328	2583	4.39
2023	81215	14883	3645	4.08
2024	97406	14322	4357	3.29
2025	115695	16963	5687	2.98

Figure 1 Number of observers contributing to the GSB Oceania in each year 2020-2025

Figure 2 Number of unique taxa contributing to the GSB Oceania in each year 2020-2025

Observer Contributions

A strong cohort of highly active observers contributed substantially to Oceania’s totals. nicklambert, michaelcincotta, and moocattle were leading contributors by observation volume, while species-focused participation was also prominent: nicklambert recorded an exceptional 1,682 unique taxa, with moocattle and michaelcincotta also documenting very high taxonomic breadth. This balance of “high-volume observers” and “species chasers” is a clear strength of the region’s BioBlitz community, supporting both dataset scale and taxonomic richness.

Top 10 observers from Oceania (GSB 2025)

Username	Observations
nicklambert	2544
michaelcincotta	2265
moocattle	2123
jacob-crisp	1666
bioshots_jm	1417
archer_lamo	1372
jamie_a	1335
dianadavey	1170
adrian2370	1150
richardlitt	1113

Top 10 species chasers from Oceania (GSB 2025)

Username	Unique taxa
nicklambert	1682
moocattle	1137
michaelcincotta	958
jacob-crisp	780
dianadavey	774
drmattnimbs	718
adrian2370	670
bioshots_jm	645
kiwialli	643
richardlitt	599

Kingdom-Level Patterns

Oceania’s records were strongly split between Animalia and Plantae, with Animalia contributing 61,268 observations and 9,843 unique taxa, and Plantae contributing 51,087 observations and 6,372 unique taxa. This relatively balanced pattern indicates strong engagement with both wildlife and flora. Fungi were recorded at lower levels (2,680 observations), consistent with detectability and identification constraints, while Chromista, Bacteria, and Protozoa remained sparsely represented, reflecting the specialist knowledge and/or sampling methods typically required for these groups.

Table 5 Kingdom statistics of Oceania (GSB 2025)

Kingdom	Observations	Unique taxa	Observers	Taxa per observer
Animalia	61268	9843	4243	2.32
Bacteria	14	7	13	0.54
Chromista	363	69	103	0.67
Fungi	2680	638	671	0.95
Plantae	51087	6372	2871	2.22
Protozoa	86	33	56	0.59

Vertebrates (Chordata) from Oceania.

Vertebrate observations in Oceania were dominated by Aves, with 13,560 observations recorded by 1,717 observers, indicating strong participation by bird-focused contributors. However, birds showed a low taxa-per-observer ratio, suggesting many participants recorded a limited range of commonly encountered species. In contrast, Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) showed comparatively high taxonomic return (693 unique taxa from 3,257 observations), highlighting the diversity captured through targeted aquatic effort. Reptilia and Mammalia contributed moderate observation totals, while Amphibia remained relatively low, consistent with detectability and seasonal activity patterns. The inclusion of Chondrichthyes and chordate groups such as Ascidiacea adds important representation of marine biodiversity.

Table 6 Vertebrates (Chordata) from Oceania

Class	Observations	Unique taxa	Observers	Taxa per observer
Actinopterygii	3257	693	258	2.69
Amphibia	497	69	262	0.26
Ascidiacea	121	40	35	1.14
Aves	13560	683	1717	0.4
Chondrichthyes	110	44	58	0.76
Mammalia	1159	130	563	0.23
Reptilia	1050	174	586	0.3

Invertebrates (Arthropoda) from Oceania.

Invertebrates represented a major component of Oceania’s biodiversity documentation. Insecta dominated, with 28,848 observations and 5,362 unique taxa recorded by over 2,500 observers, demonstrating both high diversity and strong public engagement. Arachnida formed the second most prominent invertebrate class, contributing 4,429 observations and 625 unique taxa, indicating substantial diversity and consistent observer attention. Malacostraca also contributed meaningfully (1,571 observations; 281 taxa), reflecting coastal and freshwater sampling effort. Smaller groups such as Ostracoda, Pycnogonida, Branchiopoda, and Symphyla were recorded only rarely, highlighting the continuing challenges of documenting cryptic or specialist taxa.

Table 7 Invertebrates (Arthropoda) from Oceania

Class	Observations	Unique taxa	Observers	Taxa per observer
Arachnida	4429	625	992	0.63
Branchiopoda	4	2	4	0.5
Chilopoda	81	23	57	0.4
Diplopoda	238	42	139	0.30
Entognatha	90	30	32	0.94
Hexanauplia	87	27	44	0.61
Insecta	28848	5362	2565	2.09
Malacostraca	1571	281	335	0.84
Ostracoda	2	1	2	0.5
Pycnogonida	7	3	4	0.75
Symphyla	5	1	4	0.25

Insects (Insecta) from Oceania

Within insects, Lepidoptera dominated the dataset, contributing 11,708 observations and 1,987 unique taxa, reflecting strong engagement with moths and butterflies and their high detectability. Other major contributors included Coleoptera, Diptera, Hemiptera, and Hymenoptera, each recording thousands of observations and high taxonomic richness, underscoring their ecological prominence and widespread distribution. Moderate contributions from Odonata, Orthoptera, and Blattodea reflect consistent participation across accessible insect groups, while less frequently recorded orders (e.g., Mecoptera, Megaloptera, Embioptera, and Plecoptera) contributed smaller numbers of records but improved overall taxonomic completeness.

Table 8 Insects (Insecta) from Oceania

Order	Observations	Unique taxa	Observers	Taxa per observer
Blattodea	522	74	254	0.29
Coleoptera	3956	956	946	1.01
Dermaptera	66	21	36	0.58
Diptera	3629	609	748	0.81
Embioptera	2	1	2	0.50
Ephemeroptera	59	16	34	0.47
Hemiptera	2981	679	733	0.93
Hymenoptera	3148	504	881	0.57
Lepidoptera	11708	1987	1362	1.46
Mantodea	144	27	109	0.25
Mecoptera	22	3	17	0.18
Megaloptera	18	7	13	0.54
Neuroptera	306	57	150	0.38
Odonata	880	116	266	0.44
Orthoptera	726	193	337	0.57
Phasmida	111	34	61	0.56
Plecoptera	32	9	20	0.45
Psocodea	45	14	29	0.48
Thysanoptera	29	13	20	0.65
Trichoptera	179	38	80	0.48
Zygentoma	7	2	3	0.67

Flowering Plants (Magnoliopsida)

Flowering plant observations in Oceania were diverse and broadly distributed across many orders. Asterales contributed the highest totals (5,592 observations; 607 unique taxa; 1,089 observers), indicating both high diversity and strong public familiarity with this group. Fabales, Myrtales, and Lamiales were also prominent, together contributing thousands of observations and substantial taxonomic richness, reflecting the ecological importance of these lineages in Oceania’s floras. Orders such as Proteales, Malpighiales, Rosales, and Caryophyllales further expanded coverage across habitats. Several early-diverging or specialised orders (e.g., Amborellales, Austrobaileyales, and Crossosomatales) were represented by very few records but added valuable phylogenetic breadth to the dataset, particularly notable given Oceania’s global significance for ancient and endemic plant lineages.

Table 9 Flowering plants (Magnoliopsida) from Oceania

Order	Observations	Unique taxa	Observers	Taxa per observer
Amborellales	1	1	1	1.00
Apiales	1816	166	508	0.33
Aquifoliales	24	2	18	0.11
Asterales	5592	607	1089	0.56
Austrobaileyales	4	1	2	0.5
Boraginales	285	49	178	0.28
Brassicales	455	66	222	0.3
Canellales	27	8	23	0.35
Caryophyllales	1764	255	573	0.45
Celastrales	188	20	134	0.15
Cornales	10	4	6	0.67
Crossosomatales	1	1	1	1
Cucurbitales	59	11	33	0.33
Dilleniales	501	44	234	0.19
Dipsacales	212	19	118	0.16
Ericales	1286	181	450	0.40
Escalloniales	5	3	4	0.75
Fabales	4617	519	974	0.53
Fagales	350	45	183	0.25
Garryales	2	1	2	0.5
Gentianales	1564	209	441	0.47
Geraniales	408	35	194	0.18
Gunnerales	8	2	8	0.25
Lamiales	2060	314	639	0.49
Laurales	401	57	163	0.35
Magnoliales	42	13	25	0.52
Malpighiales	1583	214	480	0.45
Malvales	934	132	437	0.30
Myrtales	2973	420	749	0.56
Nymphaeales	37	9	22	0.41
Oxalidales	819	73	336	0.22
Paracryphiales	8	4	6	0.67
Piperales	106	11	43	0.26
Proteales	1657	208	426	0.49
Ranunculales	822	82	392	0.21
Rosales	1488	199	487	0.41
Santalales	333	49	172	0.28
Sapindales	1121	216	378	0.57
Saxifragales	354	69	166	0.42
Solanales	802	96	340	0.28
Vitales	79	14	44	0.32
Zygophyllales	7	3	6	0.50

Summary

Overall, Oceania’s GSB 2025 results reflect a highly engaged and expanding community documenting biodiversity at scale. The region shows a strong balance between plant and animal recording, exceptional insect diversity, and meaningful representation of both terrestrial and marine ecosystems. Continued growth in participation, alongside targeted effort toward under-recorded taxa, is likely to further strengthen Oceania’s contribution in future BioBlitz events.