How to conduct a dragonfly/damselfly survey
Why are dragonflies and damselflies a useful indicator species?
We are grouping dragonflies and damselflies to survey them as indicators of healthy water quality. They are amphibious, freshwater insects, with larvae living underwater and adults emerging to live above water. Dragonflies and damselflies are dependent on clean, fresh water to lay their eggs in, and are sensitive to biophysical factors such as water oxygen levels, and pesticides and other water contaminants (for example, agricultural runoff) can therefore cause them to be absent from a habitat.
Their amphibious life cycle increases their value as an indicator species, as both habitats (in and around the water) need to be in good condition for dragonflies to thrive. For example, both water quality and adult shelter are dependent on surrounding vegetation, so the presence of dragonflies can indicate healthy biodiversity.
Our focus will be on dragonflies and the session will cover how to undertake dragonfly point counts.
This training session is one of our scheduled surveys - so by the end of the session, you'll already have contributed data to our research. Whilst your time is hugely valuable to us, taking part in any of our trainings and surveys will give you useful experience you can use elsewhere, too.
Places are limited for each training session and must be pre-booked. Please book here to let us know you're coming.
If the session is fully booked, please join the waiting list as we may be able to offer another training session in response to demand.
Important info
- Over 18s only.
- Dress for the weather and in clothes you don't mind getting mucky - all training sessions are practical and will be outside.
- Wear sturdy, comfortable boots or wellies.
- Feel free to bring water and snacks with you.
- Sorry, no dogs are permitted with the exception of service animals.
This training session is FREE thanks to funding support from the Farming in Protected Landscapes programme
