Field Day- Pollinator Habitat Monitoring

Did you miss hearing Dr. Bennett at May Mingle? Caught the talk and eager to learn more? Join her research team as they share all about the work they have been doing.

Are you interested in understanding how new technologies and tools can assess habitat quality?

The University of Illinois, Southern Illinois University, and the Electric Power Research Institute received funding from the USDA Conservation Reserve Program to evaluate how new technologies can be leveraged to monitor the quality of CRP pollinator habitat. This research project will explore the use of drones and satellite imagery to develop habitat metrics such as flower cover, bare soil, and woody cover, which can assess habitat value for pollinators. Environmental DNA is another tool the project team is evaluating as a way to document pollinator richness. Remotely collected imagery and eDNA data are ground validated using traditional vegetation and pollinator field sampling methods. The…