Northeastern Iowa Goat Prairie Monitoring
| Principal Investigator: | Stephen J. Dinsmore |
|---|---|
| Student Investigator: | One undergraduate field technician |
| Collaborators: | Katy Reeder, Iowa Department of Natural Resources |
| Duration: | March 25, 2015 to November 30, 2017 |
| Funding Source(s): | Iowa Department of Natural Resources |
Goals and Objectives:
- Monitor reptiles and butterflies with Multiple Species Inventory and Monitoring (MSIM) protocols to gauge responses to goat prairie restoration.
- Survey for reptiles and butterflies with Visual Encounter Surveys (VES) and reptiles with coverboards.
- Collect baseline vegetation data before and after site restoration.
Progress:
In 2015 we completed our first field season on this project (see 2015 progress report). We did not conduct any fieldwork in 2016 to allow time for management activities on each site. In 2016 we completed some initial analyses of site occupancy for a couple of priority species, but these analyses are on-going and will be finalized after the 2017 field season.
Future Plans:
We will revisit all sites in 2017 to assess the impact of management activities on reptiles and butterflies. Following the 2017 field season we will complete site occupancy analyses and prepare a final project report.
Funding Organization: Iowa Department of Natural Resources (IDNR)
Duration: 03/25/2015 to 11/30/2017
Principal Investigator(s): Dr. Stephen Dinsmore