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CNN Saturday Morning News

Intervie with Richard Wiese

Aired June 28, 2003 - 07:19   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Aww, we found somebody in Central Park at this hour, little squirrel there eating a nut. Nature lovers often on hands and knees are in fact counting itsy-bitsy creatures just like that in New York's Central Park today.
CNN's Kathleen Hays joins us from the park to tell us what in heck this is all about. Hi, Kathleen. What is going on there?

KATHLEEN HAYS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Heidi.

You know, it's a lot more than squirrels and nuts. Some people might say you'd be nuts to stay up all night in Central Park. But this is a whole other view of Central Park. This is Bioblitz, part of Central Park's 150th birthday celebration. But as scientists here, it's a very, very important event, though, cataloguing as many species of bats, moths, you name it, in a 24-hour period.

The main sponsor, the leader of this group, is the Explorers Club. I have the president of the Explorers Club here with me, Richard Wiese. Good morning, Richard.

RICHARD WIESE, PRESIDENT, EXPLORERS CLUB: Good morning, and thanks for coming down.

I tell you mentioned that, you know, New York City's known for its nightlife, but people, I think, would be shocked if they saw the amount of nightlife we saw last night in terms of bats, owls -- Wait a second. I just thought I saw something new on your shoulder.

HAYS: See, this is part of what they're doing, Heidi. They are -- this is an attempt, though, a really serious attempt to map all these species of bugs, birds, animals. I think people know Central Park, but they don't realize it is teeming with life, and not just human life.

WIESE: Yes, in fact, I think people would be shocked by the sheer voluminous amount of biodiversity here. You know, when people think of Central Park, they don't think of giant snapping turtles, they don't think of some of the bird life, they -- just -- you're looking at all these bugs going all...

But it's been very interesting, because we've teamed with Microsoft to develop some technology in which we can actually catalogue things much faster, and we're using this sort of as a benchmark. Say, for example, we find 2,000 species of life in here. It's going to be much more than that. And some of it will be species that have never been identified before that we'll be able to use this as a benchmark, and in five, 10 years from now, we can say whether the health of this park is improved or just decreased.

HAYS: And it's interesting, because, I think, you know, so many people, Central Park is known around the world in the midst of this urban setting. I understand about a year ago, a new kind of centipede was found in Central Park. I think most people figure if anything, life was disappearing from this park. It's an urban spot, not realizing how rich and varied and still growing it is.

WIESE: Yes, you know, well, there's other things. For example, 10 years ago, you wouldn't have found a peregrine falcon or a red- tailed hawk here. But I think people, again, they don't realize that of, say, the 15 million organisms on earth, less than 5 percent actually have a name. You know, if you take a scoop of water from the pond there, there are organisms in there that have never been identified.

And I think before we can save our planet, we have to know who the neighbors are right in your own back yard.

HAYS: Well, Richard Wiese, thanks for joining us.

We're going to have more on Bioblitz as the day continues. And this is a 24-hour event. It concludes at 12 noon today. We're going to speak to more people -- he's finding more bugs on me -- to see if any, you know, what was -- what happened last night. People are still coming in from the park. I talked to some bleary-eyed people, Richard's -- he's doing too well.

WIESE: I'm pretty bleary-eyed as -- at the moment right now.

HAYS: OK. Anyway, we'll be back to you in a while, Heidi. Thanks so much.

COLLINS: Bleary or blurry, something like that. Kathleen, just wondering, maybe Richard would know the answer to this. How does -- you say there are more than 2,000 species there in Central Park. How does that compare to other parks of about the same size?

HAYS: OK, Richard, what Heidi's asking is, you say there's about 2,000...

WIESE: Heidi's a babe.

HAYS: Yes, she is. She is, she's quite a species in her own right. We all -- yes. You see, scientists are not...

COLLINS: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...

HAYS: ... boring, Heidi.

Anyway... COLLINS: No.

WIESE: They don't lack a certain testicularity.

HAYS: Yes. Anyway, but the question is actually -- scientists -- how -- the 2,000 species in Central Park, how would that compare to another spot? Because this is 843 acres, an urban park. It -- would you find 2,000 species, 500, a million species, what, how does this compare?

WIESE: Well, this is the first time that they've ever done a complete catalogue here. And so, I mean, I'm just thinking of Heidi right now, wait a second. It's that, you know, if you're in a rainforest, something like that, you'd have, obviously, a lot more biodiversity. What we're trying to do is just come up with some baseline. We don't know what that number's going to be.

For example, if you literally take a scoop of water out of the pond, there's a lot of microbes in there, I mean, literally hundreds of thousands of them, and none of them have names on them.

HAYS: OK. So, see, I guess that's an answer of sorts.

WIESE: I mean, I know people would like to get a specific number in terms of 2,000, 3,000. We don't know. But I think we will set a record in terms of the amount of species identified in a Bioblitz. They've done them on much smaller scales. And I think that 1,600...

HAYS: OK.

WIESE: ... is the number...

HAYS: OK.

WIESE: ... that they're (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...

HAYS: Great, OK. So there's your answer, a very rich spot in terms of scientists, in terms of biodiversity. Heidi, back to you.

COLLINS: All right. Kathleen Hays, Richard, thanks so much this morning. You guys be careful out there. It's a jungle out there.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired June 28, 2003 - 07:19   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Aww, we found somebody in Central Park at this hour, little squirrel there eating a nut. Nature lovers often on hands and knees are in fact counting itsy-bitsy creatures just like that in New York's Central Park today.
CNN's Kathleen Hays joins us from the park to tell us what in heck this is all about. Hi, Kathleen. What is going on there?

KATHLEEN HAYS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Heidi.

You know, it's a lot more than squirrels and nuts. Some people might say you'd be nuts to stay up all night in Central Park. But this is a whole other view of Central Park. This is Bioblitz, part of Central Park's 150th birthday celebration. But as scientists here, it's a very, very important event, though, cataloguing as many species of bats, moths, you name it, in a 24-hour period.

The main sponsor, the leader of this group, is the Explorers Club. I have the president of the Explorers Club here with me, Richard Wiese. Good morning, Richard.

RICHARD WIESE, PRESIDENT, EXPLORERS CLUB: Good morning, and thanks for coming down.

I tell you mentioned that, you know, New York City's known for its nightlife, but people, I think, would be shocked if they saw the amount of nightlife we saw last night in terms of bats, owls -- Wait a second. I just thought I saw something new on your shoulder.

HAYS: See, this is part of what they're doing, Heidi. They are -- this is an attempt, though, a really serious attempt to map all these species of bugs, birds, animals. I think people know Central Park, but they don't realize it is teeming with life, and not just human life.

WIESE: Yes, in fact, I think people would be shocked by the sheer voluminous amount of biodiversity here. You know, when people think of Central Park, they don't think of giant snapping turtles, they don't think of some of the bird life, they -- just -- you're looking at all these bugs going all...

But it's been very interesting, because we've teamed with Microsoft to develop some technology in which we can actually catalogue things much faster, and we're using this sort of as a benchmark. Say, for example, we find 2,000 species of life in here. It's going to be much more than that. And some of it will be species that have never been identified before that we'll be able to use this as a benchmark, and in five, 10 years from now, we can say whether the health of this park is improved or just decreased.

HAYS: And it's interesting, because, I think, you know, so many people, Central Park is known around the world in the midst of this urban setting. I understand about a year ago, a new kind of centipede was found in Central Park. I think most people figure if anything, life was disappearing from this park. It's an urban spot, not realizing how rich and varied and still growing it is.

WIESE: Yes, you know, well, there's other things. For example, 10 years ago, you wouldn't have found a peregrine falcon or a red- tailed hawk here. But I think people, again, they don't realize that of, say, the 15 million organisms on earth, less than 5 percent actually have a name. You know, if you take a scoop of water from the pond there, there are organisms in there that have never been identified.

And I think before we can save our planet, we have to know who the neighbors are right in your own back yard.

HAYS: Well, Richard Wiese, thanks for joining us.

We're going to have more on Bioblitz as the day continues. And this is a 24-hour event. It concludes at 12 noon today. We're going to speak to more people -- he's finding more bugs on me -- to see if any, you know, what was -- what happened last night. People are still coming in from the park. I talked to some bleary-eyed people, Richard's -- he's doing too well.

WIESE: I'm pretty bleary-eyed as -- at the moment right now.

HAYS: OK. Anyway, we'll be back to you in a while, Heidi. Thanks so much.

COLLINS: Bleary or blurry, something like that. Kathleen, just wondering, maybe Richard would know the answer to this. How does -- you say there are more than 2,000 species there in Central Park. How does that compare to other parks of about the same size?

HAYS: OK, Richard, what Heidi's asking is, you say there's about 2,000...

WIESE: Heidi's a babe.

HAYS: Yes, she is. She is, she's quite a species in her own right. We all -- yes. You see, scientists are not...

COLLINS: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...

HAYS: ... boring, Heidi.

Anyway... COLLINS: No.

WIESE: They don't lack a certain testicularity.

HAYS: Yes. Anyway, but the question is actually -- scientists -- how -- the 2,000 species in Central Park, how would that compare to another spot? Because this is 843 acres, an urban park. It -- would you find 2,000 species, 500, a million species, what, how does this compare?

WIESE: Well, this is the first time that they've ever done a complete catalogue here. And so, I mean, I'm just thinking of Heidi right now, wait a second. It's that, you know, if you're in a rainforest, something like that, you'd have, obviously, a lot more biodiversity. What we're trying to do is just come up with some baseline. We don't know what that number's going to be.

For example, if you literally take a scoop of water out of the pond, there's a lot of microbes in there, I mean, literally hundreds of thousands of them, and none of them have names on them.

HAYS: OK. So, see, I guess that's an answer of sorts.

WIESE: I mean, I know people would like to get a specific number in terms of 2,000, 3,000. We don't know. But I think we will set a record in terms of the amount of species identified in a Bioblitz. They've done them on much smaller scales. And I think that 1,600...

HAYS: OK.

WIESE: ... is the number...

HAYS: OK.

WIESE: ... that they're (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...

HAYS: Great, OK. So there's your answer, a very rich spot in terms of scientists, in terms of biodiversity. Heidi, back to you.

COLLINS: All right. Kathleen Hays, Richard, thanks so much this morning. You guys be careful out there. It's a jungle out there.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com