Checklists: An under-used tool for the inventory and monitoring of plants and animals
Checklists are widely used to catalog field observations of plants and animals. We used 25 years of bird checklist data from the Études des Populations d’Oiseaux du Quebec program to examine the ability of checklists to produce reliable conservation, management, and ecological information. We found that checklists can provide reliable information on changes in bird populations, phenology, and geographic and climate abundance patterns at local, regional, and continental scales. Professional and amateur conservation groups that need to develop extensive monitoring programs should take advantage of the fact that checklists, unlike other time-consuming and expensive techniques, can be used to detect large-scale changes in an entire community of species.
Citation Information
Publication Year | 1998 |
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Title | Checklists: An under-used tool for the inventory and monitoring of plants and animals |
DOI | 10.1046/j.1523-1739.1998.96402.x |
Authors | Sam Droege, A. Cyr, J. Larivee |
Publication Type | Article |
Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
Series Title | Conservation Biology |
Index ID | 5223398 |
Record Source | USGS Publications Warehouse |
USGS Organization | Patuxent Wildlife Research Center |