Beginning in 2011, BioBase brought the 3rd dimension of habitat in the aquatic world to practitioners. BioBase’s EcoSound™ maps not only the mere presence of vegetation, but also the canopy height and creates aquatic plant ABUNDANCE maps of unprecedented detail (Figure 1).
We’ve spent thousands of words in these pages and presentations on the road extolling the importance of measuring and monitoring aquatic plant abundance to further the goals of aquatic habitat conservation. We place emphasis on the word “abundance” because it drives habitat; it drives water quality dynamics. Abundance carries additional meaning than whether something is simply present. Measuring how many of something is in a space is generally harder than concluding whether that same something is present or absent. Yet, simply existing carries great importance as well. So while abundance is critical to know for population viability and ecosystem models, knowing whether a species is simply occupying a space regardless of its abundance is also tremendously important.
Continue reading “Map aquatic vegetation cover with BioBase”
