Baseline Monitoring
Baseline monitoring uses environmental and soil baselines to assess the condition of the environment before, during and after your project. Your project, the increased traffic and changes to the property can have drastic effects on the environment. The numbers gathered and analyzed are used to maintain a healthy environment for your plants. By continuously gathering and running the numbers, small alterations can be made to ensure the best conditions for plant life.
Preparation for Baseline Monitoring
If there is more than one vegetation of note present, a vegetation map of the site must be completed, and approximate acreages calculated. A sampling plan is prepared, which includes each plant type and suspected impact of the project upon them. The weather and season should be conducive to the targeted plants being easily identifiable. This includes soil samples to give an 80-percent confidence in soil baselines. Other samples will contribute to the overall environmental baselines.
Monitoring from Soil Baselines Data
In general, soil is comprised 45 percent of minerals like stones, sand, silt and clay. Soil averages 25 percent air, and 25 percent water. They occupy the pore space — the area between mineral particles. The remaining 5 percent is organic matter, both living and dead. Soil baselines tell us the minerals present in your soil like nitrogen, carbon and more. Certain plants require certain minerals, so samples tell us the soil baselines, and those ensure that your plants have the nutrients they need.
Environmental Baselines Help Define ‘Normal’
The baselines tell us what is existent in your ecosystem. The samples we gather for these environmental baselines may include air, heavy metal bio-uptake in plant and animal tissue, agronomic soils, wastewater, acid generation, leaching of waste rock and soil and more. The environmental baselines communicate growing conditions for your plants. They are monitored before, during and after your project, and alterations can be made to the environment to ensure that your plants can continue to thrive.
