Frameworks, Strategies, and Protocols for Monitoring and Interdisciplinary Research
Natural resource managers are faced with the prospect of dramatic climate change, the commencement of ecosystem- and landscape-scale restoration and management initiatives, as well as an interest in learning from and being accountable for restoration projects. The consequent needs for information have motivated many agencies to institute ecological monitoring programs and interdisciplinary research efforts in recent decades. With regard to monitoring, especially for federal agencies with large land holdings, designing programs and developing protocols is a complex undertaking. Even for programs with smaller scopes, a careful planning process is needed to maximize the benefit obtained from the investment in monitoring. Challenges include determining what constitutes measures of ecological integrity, and then how those measures should be sampled on the landscape. A deliberate strategy is also required for multi-disciplinary projects to ensure that high-priority information needs are met.
Projects
- USGS Support for North Pacific Landscape Conservation Cooperative
- Monitoring Protocol for U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service "Partners for Fish and Wildlife and Coastal Programs" Restoration Projects
- Monitoring Protocol for Forest Vegetation of the National Park Service North Coast and Cascades Network
- Monitoring Framework for the USFWS National Wildlife Refuges of Alaska
- Linking Hydrogeology and Aquatic Communities for Ecological Monitoring of Wadeable Mountain Streams
Below are publications associated with this project.
Conceptual ecological models to guide integrated landscape monitoring of the Great Basin
Forest Vegetation Monitoring Protocol for National Parks in the North Coast and Cascades Network
Natural resource managers are faced with the prospect of dramatic climate change, the commencement of ecosystem- and landscape-scale restoration and management initiatives, as well as an interest in learning from and being accountable for restoration projects. The consequent needs for information have motivated many agencies to institute ecological monitoring programs and interdisciplinary research efforts in recent decades. With regard to monitoring, especially for federal agencies with large land holdings, designing programs and developing protocols is a complex undertaking. Even for programs with smaller scopes, a careful planning process is needed to maximize the benefit obtained from the investment in monitoring. Challenges include determining what constitutes measures of ecological integrity, and then how those measures should be sampled on the landscape. A deliberate strategy is also required for multi-disciplinary projects to ensure that high-priority information needs are met.
Projects
- USGS Support for North Pacific Landscape Conservation Cooperative
- Monitoring Protocol for U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service "Partners for Fish and Wildlife and Coastal Programs" Restoration Projects
- Monitoring Protocol for Forest Vegetation of the National Park Service North Coast and Cascades Network
- Monitoring Framework for the USFWS National Wildlife Refuges of Alaska
- Linking Hydrogeology and Aquatic Communities for Ecological Monitoring of Wadeable Mountain Streams
Below are publications associated with this project.