Every park,
mapped to the species.
A longitudinal field inventory of biodiversity across eleven municipal parks in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Ten student researchers from Akiba Yavneh Academy. Eleven field days. The first comprehensive baseline of the species — native, naturalized, and invasive — that share North Texas's fragmented urban green space with us.
Species we found.
Every photograph in the inventory was taken by a student researcher in the field and verified by the global iNaturalist community. Six standout finds from Year 1 — across plants, insects, birds, mammals, and the canopy that holds them together.
What ten days in
the field revealed.
Across eleven parks in five cities, every observation was logged, photographed, and verified by the global iNaturalist community. A few sites stood out — for sheer volume, for rare habitat, or for the story they tell about urban nature.
Old Renner Park canopyOld Renner · Dallas
~190 observations
Shady Grove shorelineShady Grove · Azle
33 observations · Eagle Mountain Lake
Cottonwood creekCottonwood · Richardson
71 observations
Curtis Park pondCurtis · University Park
63 observations
May 2026
Old Renner Park — survey deployment
The Site
Old Renner anchors the project's Dallas core — a mature-canopy neighborhood park threaded by a creek corridor. Baldcypress, Cedar Elm, and pecan dominate the canopy; the understory carries native woodsorrels, straggler daisy, and roughleaf dogwood.
The Survey
Two coordinated field days, May 17 and May 19, with the full Dallas team. Every plant, insect, bird, and mammal encountered was photographed and uploaded for community verification.
Result
~190
observations logged — the highest of any single park
Notable finds: Pipevine Swallowtail, Eastern Fox Squirrel, Eastern Cottontail.
How the study works.
NTBI is built to measure change, not just presence — a baseline year, a year of analysis, and an exact replication, so the data shows not only what lives in these parks but how it shifts over time.
Field deployment · May 2026
Ten students map eleven parks
Across eleven days in May 2026, the team logged 853 observations of 222 species, each photographed and submitted to iNaturalist, where a global community of naturalists independently verifies every identification. That community verification is what makes a youth-led survey scientifically credible.
Analysis & partnerships · 2026–27
A year of analysis and engagement
Between field seasons, the data is analyzed for habitat patterns, invasive pressure, and native canopy health — and shared with municipal partners across five cities to inform local conservation decisions.
Replication · May 2027
The same parks, surveyed again
In May 2027 the team re-surveys the same eleven parks with the same method. The year-over-year delta — what appeared, what vanished, what spread — is the project's core scientific contribution: a measured picture of ecological change in urban North Texas.
The Year 1 inventory unfolded in partnership with five North Texas municipal governments.
Each park surveyed was endorsed by its city's parks department. Two municipal directors — Shohn Rodgers in Richardson, and Joe Moses in Irving — have personally engaged with the project and are helping shape Year 2 expansion.
Dallas
Parks & Recreation and Development
Endorsed the seven-park Dallas core survey covering the majority of the Year 1 dataset across Churchill, Old Renner, Frankford, Bentwood, Cheyenne, Preston Green, and Bent Tree Meadow.
7 parks · ~619 observations
Richardson
Shohn Rodgers, Parks Department
Endorsed the Cottonwood Park deployment. The riparian-corridor data from this survey will anchor Year 2’s creek-ecosystem analysis.
Cottonwood Park · 71 observations
University Park
Parks Department
Endorsed the Curtis Park deployment. The most ornamentally landscaped site in the inventory, providing a critical baseline for cultivated-versus-naturalized species comparison.
Curtis Park · 63 observations
Azle
Parks Department
Engaged through the Shady Grove Park deployment on Eagle Mountain Lake — a lake-cove and marshland ecosystem unique within the Year 1 inventory.
Shady Grove Park · 33 observations
Irving
Director Joe Moses, Irving Parks Department
Director Moses personally endorsed the project and invited the NTBI research executive to extend the inventory to Irving. Field deployment at Lively Pointe Park added the fifth city to the Year 1 footprint and opens a pathway for collaboration with municipal arborists in Year 2.
Lively Pointe Park · ~67 observations
Ten sophomores from Akiba Yavneh Academy.
The NTBI research executive is composed entirely of high-school sophomores at Akiba Yavneh Academy who chose, outside of any course requirement, to build the first comprehensive baseline of urban biodiversity across the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Each member holds a defined role in field operations, data management, scientific verification, and municipal outreach.
Reach the research executive directly.
For municipal partnership inquiries, academic research collaboration, press requests, or general questions about the dataset, write to us. A member of the NTBI executive will respond within seven days.
Five cities now.
Help us map the rest.
The Year 1 baseline is complete and public. For Year 2, we're inviting more North Texas municipalities to bring their parks into the inventory — and more arborists, ecologists, and educators to help verify and expand the data. The dataset is open to everyone, today.
View the inventory on iNaturalist