Slackwater Darter Workshop photos

FRCA hosted two successful workshop in April to look for Slackwater Darter habitat. The Slackwater Darter is federally listed as an "threatened" species, and very little is know about its habitat and how to protect the species. With the information we learn during our study, we will be able to better protect its habitat and work closely with surrounding landowners and other conservation organizations to implement best management practices. FRCA hopes to expand the habitat of the Slackwater Darter, and possibly identify current habitat sites.

For these workshops, we gave a brief "in class" overview of the darter, its habitat, and habitat loss in north Alabama.

Next, our volunteers headed out into the field! We took maps that identified possible habitat sites and drove to those locations. Once we found the stream, we simply visually inspected the stream to see if it looked like stream slackwater darters would like. We filled out a form to specify the water quality (is the water clear or full of sediment?), how steep each bank is, an estimated width and depth of the stream, if there was any flooding adjacent to the stream, and whether or not vegetation was growing in the stream. We also used a GPS unit to get an exact location for the site. Here are some of our volunteers surveying a stream:

Here is a FRCA board member documenting one of the more promising sites:

We've managed to visually inspect a LOT of sites during April. If you want to learn how our project is progressing, come to our June meeting! Our intern will give a presentation about this project, our results so far, and what the results mean for the conservation of this threatened species!