Flora and fauna surveys in Alabama (USA) in 2024

Biodiversity survey carried out by ERM on behalf of Imerys, to conduct a Biodiversity Baseline Assessment (BBA) inside and/or around Imerys sites in Alabama, United States of America. Vegetation surveys conducted along 11 transects: surveyors walked along the transects and recorded all species observed within each vegetative stratum. Point count bird surveys conducted at 25 survey points for a 15-minute observation period,  in the early morning hours (between the hours of 0600-1000), during which all bird species seen and heard were recorded. Bat echolocation calls recorded during acoustic field surveys (4 wildlife Acoustic MiniBat acoustic detectors placed, recording 15 nights of call data, in areas with quality foraging and roosting habitat features for bats), analyzed using Kaleidoscope Pro v. 5.4.7 and identified (manually vetted by a trained bat biologist). Fish and aquatic macroivertebrates surveyed through single-pass electrofishing conducted for over a minimum of 100 meters of continuous channel at each survey site and though the use of a standard D-frame 500-micron mesh kick net. Wildlife cameras, including 5 Vikeri 4k 32MP Trail Cameras (0.1 second trigger) deployed over a 15-day period (24 hours a day) and set facing corridors and habitat edges. Finally incidental observations and indications (scats, droppings, skulls) were also considered.