WILCOX RANCH FAIRY SHRIMP SURVEYS DRY SEASON CULTURING AND PROCESSING

SummitWest provided dry season fairy shrimp services to Vollmar Natural Lands Consulting for 288-acres of Wilcox Ranch in Solano County, CA on behalf of the Travis Air Force Base, in order to document biological resources that may constrain activities and developments associated with Base operations. Work involved processing of soil samples and culturing of cysts for identification purposes.

The Wilcox Ranch in Solano County, California is an 1,858-acre livestock ranch that is jointly owned by the City of Fairfield and Solano County. The 288-acre study area has habitats known to support the following federally listed large branchiopod (fairy shrimp) species: vernal pool fairy shrimp (Branchinecta lynchi), conservancy fairy shrimp (B. conservatio) and vernal pool tadpole shrimp (Lepidurus packardi). SummitWest performed non-protocol level surveys for 75 basins, totaling 774 soil samples (38,716 mL). SummitWest processed dry soil samples for the determination of the presence of fairy shrimp cysts and subsequently cultured pools with Branchinecta cysts for identification to the species level. SummitWest also wrote a memo report of the findings.

Project Highlights

Client: Travis Air Force Base, Vollmar Natural Lands Consulting

Date: 2020

Location: Solana County, CA

Sector: Military Installations

NAICS Codes: 541620, 541370

Size: 288 acres, 75 basins

Services Provided

  • Dry Season Fairy Shrimp Surveys Including Processing and Culturing
  • Technical Report and Environmental Document Preparation
  • Program Coordination and Scheduling

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