Activity Cards

In collaboration with United States Geological Survey, IRC staff and volunteers will be monitoring vernal pools located at Shoestring and Irvine Mesa. They will survey for activity in the pools and note down the status and conditions of the pools. The goal to give periodic updates on the pools to USGS and notify them when any spadefoot toads have reached the metamorph stage.

This activity is for the Shoestring pools and we will be meeting in Building D at the IRC office. Staff or volunteer driver will drive volunteers to the shoestring gate and up to the ponds if trails conditions allow. If transportation is unavailable, volunteers will be asked to hike in from Augustine staging or the Shoestring gate. Volunteers will be notified if this is the case.

There is one slot for a volunteer driver. If you happen to be a driver and the slot is filled but you still wish to help with the survey, you can still sign up as a normal volunteer participant.

Please sanitize your boots and any of your own equipment after visiting the pools, especially if you signed up to go to both shoestring and the mesa pools in the same week. USGS recommends a 16:1 bleach solution but alcohol and other cleaning agents will do. We will sanitize equipment that we provide such as waders, thermometers, and secchi disks.

The Gold Spotted Oak Borer (GSOB) is an introduced non-native invasive beetle that is greatly impacting our native oak species. IRC is working to enhance and protect our oak woodland habitat by monitoring oaks throughout the landmarks in some of our major canyon bottoms. Join our annual GSOB monitoring efforts and help protect the oak woodlands on the Irvine Ranch Landmarks.

GSOB Monitoring- Participants will learn about the signs and symptoms of Gold Spotted Oak Borer infestations in oak trees, as well as survey techniques for detecting GSOB. Using a mobile data collection app, participants will locate known infested trees, inspect trunks for GSOB specific exit holes, identify and mark the holes, and update the data collection form for each surveyed tree. More information will be given at the training for future monitoring activities.

The Gold Spotted Oak Borer (GSOB) is an introduced non-native invasive beetle that is greatly impacting our native oak species. IRC is working to enhance and protect our oak woodland habitat by monitoring oaks throughout the landmarks in some of our major canyon bottoms. Join our annual GSOB monitoring efforts and help protect the oak woodlands on the Irvine Ranch Landmarks.

GSOB Monitoring- Participants will learn about the signs and symptoms of Gold Spotted Oak Borer infestations in oak trees, as well as survey techniques for detecting GSOB. Using a mobile data collection app, participants will locate known infested trees, inspect trunks for GSOB specific exit holes, identify and mark the holes, and update the data collection form for each surveyed tree. More information will be given at the training for future monitoring activities.