SALMTEC Shop
Welcome to the SALMTEC shop! Our students often ask where to get the items we talk about in our courses. You asked, we deliver! These are some of our top picks. Stay tuned for product comparisons and reviews.
Wetland Assessments
Handheld EC Meter
This small EC metre is perfect for testing the salinity type of Alberta’s wetlands, because it has a range of 0-9990 µS. This covers 4 of the 6 salinity categories in AWCS. Anything above that then I may rely on veg or AGRASID indicators.
Fiberglass Measuring Tape 50m
This 50m tape is ideal to delineate transects or plot boundaries, as it is small, lightweight and durable. Plus it is orange, so less-likely to get lost.
Munsel Color Matching Tool
Take the subjectivity out of soil Munsell colour coding with this tool.
PH Meter
This small, lightweight pH metre comes with a carrying case, and some calibration solutions.
Soil Sampling Probe 20"
In addition to the perfect length (plus 20cm core view), this soil probe is designed to prevent soil clogs with the tapered end, and has soft handles.
Vegetation Assessments
Plant Press solid wood sides, 18" x 12"
Includes two press boards, two straps with buckles, 12 ventilators, and 12 blotters
plant press, hardwood slats, 12 x 18"
Slatted sides, straps and buckles. Works with any 12 x 18″ driers and ventilators, not included.
Hori knife with sheath and sharpener
12″ Stainless Steel
Great for checking the root structure of plants. Small soil pits or digging holes when nature calls.
Hand Lense, 15X magnification 23mm
15 x is a great magnification for field-level vascular plant identification. The 23mm lens offers a broader field of view.
Adhesive ruler, metric/imperial 90cm
Great to stick on to another piece of gear or book so you always have your ruler with you. Can be cut to length
Fold up magnifier with scale
Portable and handy magnifier provides scale reference when viewing and photographing small plant and soil features.
Folding Ruler
Foldable rulers allow you to modify the dimensions for a 1m X 1m plot or a Daubenmire plot (20cm X 50cm), and the ruler is handy when determining percent covers.
plant press extra blotters
Don’t overlook your blotters, as they help to keep specimens dry, which serves to prevent fungal growth and speciment deterioration.
Microscope ruler
Don’t forget to put a size reference in all your botanical photos. This microscope ruler is handy when taking photograph, as well as measuring plant parts for identification.
Rite in the Rain Book
Plastic front and back cover with coil binding is my favourite Rite in the Rain book. The back cover has a ruler on it and can be used as a scale in photos.
Books
Rare Vascular Plants of Alberta 2nd Ed.
A delightful compendium of beautiful photos, line drawings, maps and easy to read text that makes rare plant surveys a delight. You may need to buy three: one for the office, one for the field and one that you drop into the babbling mountain stream and watch as it floats away…
Vascular Flora of Alberta
A vegetation survey must if you intend to identify an Alberta plant!
Vascular Plants of Alberta Volume 1
A partial adaptation of the Flora of Alberta, by John G. Packer, a co-author of the 1983 Update, who collaborated with Dr. Joyce Gould.
Plant Identification Terminology
Want to learn a new language? This book is a good pre-cursor for botanical surveys.
Plants of the Western Forest
This is one of the last places you can purchase this book! Which is a must for beginner to intermediate botanists.
Mammal Tracks & Sign
A guide to North American Species
Bird Feathers
A guide to North American Species
How to Identify Plants
Great for beginners.
How to Identify Grasses & Grasslike Plants
Great for beginners.
Manual of Grasses for North America
Kindle Edition
Or if you are in the office, check out the online version of Flora of North America by efloras.org HERE
Field Gear
Bear Spray Safety container
This container will keep your bear spray safe while you drive/ride and even provides some protection against extreme temperatures
Cruiser Vest
Classic button front, with plunging neckline so when you use a carabiner to close the two to gromets, you don’t choke yourself. Also, the backpack pocket is perfect for a 3L water bladder.
Dunlop Boots
My absolute field boot of choice. Can withstand a wetland booter, or changing a flat tire!
Flagging Tape
Biodegradeable, which lasts a couple of seasons.
Rubber Boot Liners
Softer and ankle elastic are less ‘achillese heel-y’ than the blue ones.
Rite in the Rain Sheets
Photocopier Paper 500 sheet
Storage Clipboard Aluminum
Great in wind, rain, snow, sun. You only need one for life…just don’t use it to hold down electric fences while you crawl through and don’t use it to shield your neck from the massive hail just before a lightning storm.
Scale Ruler
1:100, 1:200, 1:250, 1:300, 1:400
Marking Flags
Blue pinflags are great for marking plot corners and individual plants. Don’t forget to remove them after, as they won’t last a winter.
Plot Whiskers
Stake Chaser Markers “Whiskers” 1,000
Merino Wool Buff
Soft wool that doesn’t itch. Thin enough to fit under a hardhat where it is breathable and warm. Then doubled up, the fine weave keeps out mosquito proboscides and black flies.
Water Bladder
3L waterbag with a slide top makes it easy to fill up in a hotel room. Perfect size for slipping into the back pouch of a cruiser vest! Even in a backpack, having the mouthpiece readily available ensures you stay hydrated in the field.
Rain/Heat Poncho
Pack of four should last a lifetime. A compact, yet mighty rain poncho that fits anyone and covers a backpack, for those times you get caught in a torrential downpour and you are in the middle of a massive graminoid fen. Warm & dry.
Fire Starter
Ferro Rod and Carbon Steel Striker Scraper. So, you won’t have to take it out of your backpack (like a lighter) when going through security at the airport, and then forget to put it back.
Leather & Wool Gloves
Great for use when driving quads and rhinos…perfect for trekking through rose bush, devil’s club understories. Keeps warm in fall to spring and allows you hold a pencil to take notes.
Free Items
4th Edition Invasive Plants of Alberta
Click here to access FREE digital copy.
Click here to order a hardcopy.
Alberta Plant Species List App
Ever find yourself remembering the plant genus but not species name…this handy app can answer a myriad of minutia. Taken from the ACIMS list, this app is currently available for Android Only. Click Here to Download
Alberta's Grassland Multi-tool Video
Short video, extolling the virtues of Alberta’s Grassland Vegetation Inventory.
Wetland Water Cycle Video
Most people have heard of the water cycle, and except for stormwater engineers, most of us think of it globally. This short video presents the wetland water cycle.
Google Earth Pro: View in 3 Dimension
This short video shows users how to view the landscape in 2.5 Dimensions (~3D). How to view a landscape profile.
Fun Stuff
Munsel Soil Color Mug
Learn your Munsell colours by osmosis.
Rainbow Duct Tape
Excellent for rebinding field books.
Mushroom hunting log
We won’t judge you for your Morels
Fun Thing 4
Stay tuned for more!
Fun Thing 5
Stay tuned for more!