Botanical Surveys + Ecological Consulting
Pennsylvania based botanical surveys and ecological consulting for conservation, restoration, land management and regulatory projects.
What We Do
Hepatica Landscapes provides botanical field services for environmental consultants, engineers, developers, municipalities, land trusts, conservation organizations and other project teams throughout Pennsylvania.
Services include PNDI-related botanical surveys, habitat assessments, targeted rare-plant surveys, floristic inventories, plant-community and vegetation assessments, pre-restoration inventories and ecological monitoring.
For projects involving Pennsylvania plant species of special concern, fieldwork and reporting can be conducted in accordance with applicable Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources botanical survey protocols and project-specific agency correspondence.
Hepatica holds a Pennsylvania Wild Plant Management Permit and brings field experience with Pennsylvania flora, difficult plant groups, rare-plant work, habitat assessment, conservation propagation and ecological restoration.
Who This Is For
This service is intended primarily for professional and institutional clients, including:
-Environmental consulting firms
-Civil engineering firms
-Developers and project managers
-Municipalities
-Utilities and infrastructure teams
-Land trusts
-Conservation organizations
-Restoration contractors
-Universities and research partners
-Natural-area managers
We can work directly for a project owner or as specialized botanical support to a larger environmental or engineering team.
This can be particularly useful when a firm needs additional botanical field capacity, local floristic expertise or support with difficult plant groups.
How the Process Works
Botanical survey work can begin for very different reasons. Some projects are driven by PNDI or agency review, while others are undertaken simply to understand the vegetation, plant communities or conservation value of a property.
General Botanical Surveys, Floristic Inventories + Ecological Assessments
1. Define the Survey Goals
We begin by discussing what you want to understand about the property.
Depending on the project, the goal may be to develop a complete floristic inventory, document existing native and invasive vegetation, identify significant plant communities, establish a baseline before restoration, locate uncommon species, evaluate habitat quality or better understand how a natural area should be managed.
2. Review the Property
We review available maps, aerial imagery, site history and any existing ecological information before fieldwork begins.
For larger or more complex properties, the site may be divided into habitat types or survey zones so that different portions of the property can be evaluated systematically.
3. Determine the Appropriate Survey Timing
Not every plant can be reliably identified at the same time of year.
Depending on the objectives, a single visit may be sufficient, or the property may benefit from multiple seasonal surveys to document spring, summer and fall flora.
For comprehensive inventories, survey timing is designed around capturing as much of the site's botanical diversity as practical.
4. Conduct the Field Survey
The property is surveyed on foot with attention to vascular plant diversity, habitat conditions, native and non-native species, vegetation structure and plant-community patterns.
Depending on the scope, fieldwork may include species lists, photographs, GPS locations, habitat notes, invasive-species mapping or documentation of particularly significant botanical features.
5. Prepare the Findings
Deliverables are tailored to the purpose of the project.
They may include:
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Floristic species lists
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Native and non-native status
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Notable or uncommon species
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Invasive plant observations
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Habitat or plant-community descriptions
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Photographic documentation
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Maps or GPS data
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Management priorities
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Restoration opportunities
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Recommendations for additional seasonal survey work
6. Use the Inventory to Guide Management
For conservation, restoration or institutional properties, the botanical inventory can become the ecological baseline for future decision-making.
Survey findings can help determine where existing native vegetation should simply be protected, where invasive management is most urgent, where restoration is likely to succeed and which portions of the property deserve additional monitoring.
PNDI + Regulatory Botanical Surveys
1. Send Project Information
Provide the project location, project boundary, anticipated schedule and any available PNDI receipt or agency correspondence.
For regulatory projects, the correspondence is especially important because it defines the species, habitat assessment or botanical survey work being requested.
2. Review the Requested Work + Survey Window
We review the project area, target species, habitat requirements and appropriate identification period and develop a scope around the agency request.
3. Conduct the Field Survey
Fieldwork is completed during the appropriate seasonal identification window and according to the agreed project scope and applicable botanical survey requirements.
4. Document + Report the Findings
Deliverables may include field documentation, habitat observations, photographs, mapping and a written botanical survey report appropriate to the project and agency request.
5. Follow-Up if Needed
If additional seasonal survey work, monitoring or project modifications are required, we can continue supporting the project through subsequent phases.
Where appropriate, Hepatica can also assist with ecological restoration planning, vegetation monitoring or approved mitigation work after the initial botanical survey.
Start a Project
Need Botanical Field Support for a Property or Project?
Tell us about the property, project goals and the type of botanical work you need.
Whether the scope involves a floristic inventory, rare-plant survey, habitat assessment, vegetation baseline, restoration-related botanical work, a PNDI-related survey or another regulatory survey, we can help determine the appropriate scope and timing.
Tell us about your property, what you would like to change and what you want the landscape to become.