The Coyote Springs Wetland Restoration 
Project was completed in 2005 and included the creation of a 0.3-acre pond adjacent to the perennial Coyote Springs and Arroyo del Coyote, located on the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) Kirtland Air Force Base (KAFB), Bernalillo County, New Mexico. In 2006, Ecosphere was contracted to begin the first of a 5-year monitoring project to assess vegetation establishment and growth, water quality, and changes in invertebrate, amphibian, and avian populations.
Vegetation monitoring efforts in 2006 focused on documenting the initial establishment, growth, and survival of vegetation at the pond and in the surrounding upland and consisted of three methods. First, permanent photo points were established to use as a reference for vegetative cover between years. Second, tree sapling/shrub counts were conducted to determine survival of individuals planted at the site in 2005. Finally, a modified Daubenmire box plot method (Daubenmire 1959) was conducted to estimate wetland vegetation cover along the inner banks of the pond.
Water quality monitoring at the wetland site included assessing the physical and chemical properties of the water as well as invertebrate sampling to bioassess wetland health. Physical and chemical characteristics of water quality included dissolved oxygen (DO), specific conductivity (SpC), pH, temperature, and percent saturated dissolved oxygen (%DO). Macroinvertebrate sampling was conducted to bioassess the wetland using metrics, including those measuring taxa richness, composition, feeding, and tolerance/intolerance, that are useful to provide basic aquatic life data for water quality management purposes.
Amphibian MonitoringAmphibian surveys were conducted at the wetland to determine species presence/absence and breeding activities. A combination of night surveys (i.e., listening for frog and toad calls) and trapping methods (specifically drift fences and pit fall traps) were employed.
Avian monitoring of the wetland site included conducting censuses to determine species richness and relative abundance, and nest searching and monitoring to document breeding activity. Censuses occurred during spring and fall migration, the breeding period, and the wintering period.
Monitoring of the Coyote Springs Wetland continues.