| Agenda 8:30 – 9:00 AM: Arrival and check-in 9:00 – 9:10: Welcome, announcements, course overview 9:10 – 9:30: Basics of soil health & intro to soil fauna
- Importance of soil life
- Introduction to the diversity of soil fauna
- Value of soil fauna and the essential ecological services they provide
9:30 – 10:15: Soil invertebrate profiles
- Profiles of the major groups of beneficial soil invertebrates
- Descriptions and identification tips
- Ecological role
- Where they are found
- Lifecycle and habitat requirements
10:15 – 10:30: Coffee break 10:30 – 11:30: Guest speaker(s): Topics TBD 11:30 – 11:45: Introduction to scouting & monitoring
- Soil invertebrates bioindicators
- Scouting and monitoring methods
- Resources and tools for field scouting/monitoring
11:45 – 12:15: Lunch break 12:20 – 1:45: Scouting activity and field demo
- Overview of Patchwork City Farms
- Practice scouting methods, recognizing soil invertebrates and their habitat
- Observe soil invertebrates in different locations and make habitat associations
- Examine the catch in pitfall traps deployed the day before and compare different samples
- Assess habitat, identify features that are present and habitat deficiencies
1:45 – 2:15: Overview of management practices & NRCS conservation programs
- Soil health and land management practices that protect and conserve soil invertebrates
- NRCS programs for technical assistance and financial assistance to support planning and implementation of conservation practices, with a focus on practices for urban and small farms
2:15 – 2:30: Q&A / Open discussion 2:30 – 3:00: Conclusion and evaluations |
