- This event has passed.
Springs Inventory and Assessment Training
March 17, 2017, 1:00 pm - March 19, 2017, 1:00 pm
$80
Please save the date for a Sky Island springs inventory and assessment training to be led by Larry Stevens and Jeri Ledbetter of the Spring Stewardship Institute.
When: March 17 – 19
Where: Agua Caliente Park, Rose Cottage
Cost: $80 per person
The workshop will be split over serveral days that include classroom sessions followed by practical application in the field. Key concepts include:
- springs ecosystems,
- ecological integrity,
- natural and cultural utility,
- stewardship,
- restoration,
- monitoring,
- field data collection,
- and information management
IN THE CLASSROOM
The first afternoon of the workshop consists of a classroom session that breaks down SSI’s research, protocols, and monitoring methods. Participants will learn from experienced staff:
- the importance of springs and their role in the ecosystem
- the 12-springs types
- the intricate network of springs-dependent species (SDS)
- inventory protocols developed by SSI
- management and monitoring techniques
- and much more.
IN THE FIELD
For the second and third days of the workshop, participants are taken to a local, nearby spring to utilize their new skills. With instruction from SSI staff, they are given the opportunity to have hands-on experience surveying a spring using each level of the SSI Springs Inventory Protocol (SIP):
- using GPS equipment to record georeference and access directions
- drawing a sketchmap of the site and identifying its microhabitats
- using a solar pathfinder to measure the site’s solar radiation budget
- measuring water quality and flow using a variety of different methods
- collecting, observing, and recording invertebrates and vertebrates (terrestrial and aquatic) at the site using various methods
- collecting and recording flora found at the site
- and much more.