The course will provide the opportunity for participants to understand the fundamental concepts underlying Holistic Ecological Monitoring and gain experience in the field observing signs of change.
Participants will learn how to complete the basic and comprehensive monitoring procedures and be proficient in using them to monitor their land when they return home.
Why Holistic Ecological Monitoring is important: The basic procedure enables you to gather enough information to keep your management on track. The comprehensive procedure provides more “quantitative” data and enables you to track specific measures over time. Even though the focus in both procedures is on a longer time frame, control, which must be immediate if monitoring shows you are veering off track, remains the most vital part of the monitoring feedback loop and is essential for keeping your management proactive.
*Redeem 2000 Solar Dollars to send someone to/take the Holistic Ecological Monitoring course!*
Duration: 2 Days
Dates: TBD
Price: $299 + meals and accommodations (Discounts available for larger groups)
The Fundamentals of Holistic Ecological Monitoring
- Where Holistic Ecological Monitoring fits in Holistic Management
- Early warning monitoring of new practices
- The importance of monitoring annually to identify trends
- Time of year to monitor
- General observations
- Key land health indicators: The four ecosystem processes
- Soil capping: its development and effects
- Reading plant forms
- Identifying species: it’s not just a name game
- Grazing patterns and what they can tell you
- Living organisms: community dynamics revisited (see pages 26-28, ebook #12)
Monitoring Your Land
Implementing the two monitoring procedures:
- Basic Monitoring
- Comprehensive Monitoring