Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Stock: Getty Images
Houston-Galveston was one of the most engaged areas globally during the City Nature Challenge this spring.
The big picture: The four-day challenge is a wide-ranging group project on biodiversity, noting species in urban areas and documenting how they are responding to climate change and urban sprawl.
Zoom in: Houston-Galveston made 44,204 observations, ranking No. 6 for the number of species observed (4,072) and No. 10 for number of observers (1,325).
Zoom out: Texas accounted for 11% of global observations with 14 metro areas logging more than 322,000 observations, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department said last week.
Texas participants recorded more than 9,500 different species. Of those, more than 176 were Species of Greatest Conservation Need, including the Texas horned lizard, zone tailed hawk, tricolored bat and Texas tortoise.
What's next:Planning for next year's challenge begins this fall.
