Sometimes, monitoring biodiversity is a giant game of hide and seek. Some species are rare. Others are elusive. In both cases, these types of species can be extremely difficult to monitor. The ABMI’s monitoring system was designed to track changes in groups of common plants and animals, not specifically to follow the status of individual [...]
Mapping rare plants and their habitats in Alberta’s Lower Athabasca region may help industry plan developments mindfully. In Alberta’s northeastern Lower Athabasca region, famously known for its bitumen-rich oil sands, there are more than industrial giants digging in the dirt for treasure. It’s also home to a treasure trove of extraordinary plant life, like the [...]
For the past several years, the Ecological Monitoring Committee for the Lower Athabasca (EMCLA) has been exploring methods for improving the way we monitor species. One of the EMCLA’s projects has focused on the use of automated recording units (ARU’s) to monitor elusive, vocalizing species such as owls, amphibians, and the Yellow Rail. ARU’s have [...]
The ABMI recently produced a Monitoring Activity Report for the Lower Athabasca Planning Region (LAPR) 2011 field season. This report is produced yearly as part of the reporting structure of the Ecological Monitoring Committee for the Lower Athabasca (EMCLA)—a group that partners with the ABMI to ensure monitoring in the region is fulfilling the requirements [...]
We’re wrapping up this year’s fieldwork on our Rare Plants project! It’s been a great summer – 150 plots were sampled (50m x 50m each) in July and August across the Lower Athabasca region. The project is a partnership between the ABMI, the EMCLA (Ecological Monitoring Committee for the Lower Athabasca), and the Neilsen Lab [...]