The science and application of ecological monitoring

Lindenmayer, David B.; Likens, Gene E.

doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2010.02.013

Cited by 546 publications

(452 citation statements)

References 60 publications

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“…Monitoring is a critical component of threatened-species recovery, because the response of the focal species to management interventions is often difficult to predict with any certainty. Well designed and appropriately funded monitoring programs allow informed choice of which recovery actions are most likely to deliver good conservation outcomes (Bernhardt et al 2005;Lindenmayer and Likens 2010). As a result of the lack of detail from the survey on the design of monitoring programs, it is difficult to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of individual monitoring approaches.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…have the treated weeds been killed, have the planted trees survived) and provide no information on the response of the target species, process or ecosystem. The design requirements for robust monitoring have been adequately outlined and reviewed elsewhere (see Lindenmayer and Likens 2010), but some key principles bear repeating. Because threatened species have usually declined in response to threats over a long time period, recovery will also be a long-term process and, so, long-term monitoring will be required; usually .10 years (Lindenmayer and Likens 2009).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Good monitoring is also characterised by clearly articulated questions and conceptual models, involvement of statisticians in the study design (e.g. consideration of reference sites, replication, sampling design), and a clear understanding of what parameters to monitor (Lindenmayer and Likens 2010). Monitoring everything in the hope of devising questions and making sense of the data at a later date is not a good model to follow.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A review of on-ground recovery actions for threatened freshwater fish in Australia

Lintermans¹

2013

Mar. Freshwater Res.

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Abstract. Freshwater fish are a highly threatened group and recovery of these threatened species is an increasingly difficult ecological and social challenge. There are many different on-ground recovery actions available to managers, but no synthesis of what, how or why these recovery actions have been deployed. The present paper reviews 428 reported on-ground recovery actions from a survey of practitioners of threatened freshwater-fish recovery in Australia. Recovery actions were grouped into 12 categories, with the most commonly utilised recovery categories being harvest control, translocation, habitat enhancement and stock enhancement. Major drivers of recovery actions were general conservation concern, recovery plans and emergency responses. The number of recovery actions grew significantly in the decade beginning 2000 as the impacts of prolonged drought in south-eastern Australia intensified. In all, 58% of recovery actions occurred in the Murray-Darling Basin, although this region holds only 27% of the 74 listed threatened freshwater fish in Australia. Few or no recovery actions were reported for many species, and few actions occurred in northern or western parts of the country. More than 80% of recovery actions reportedly had some form of monitoring. The diversity of management interventions is reviewed, and patterns and issues are identified to guide future recovery efforts.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A review of on-ground recovery actions for threatened freshwater fish in Australia

Lintermans¹

2013

Mar. Freshwater Res.

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“…However, due to the unpredictable and brief activity of adults, it may be more practical to monitor, within certain areas, the number of aquatic sites where P. adspersus breeding occurs (Joseph et al 2006). In this way large-scale trends can be detected for improved conservation assessment and management of P. adspersus at regional, provincial and national scales (Lindenmayer & Likens 2010). …”

Section: Revealed That Variousmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spawning and non-breeding activity of adult giant bullfrogs (Pyxicephalus adspersus)

Yetman

Ferguson

2011

African Journal of Herpetology

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Abstract.-Populations of the Near-Threatened giant bullfrog (Pyxicephalus adspersus)have been poorly monitored due to the unpredictable appearance of this species aboveground. To better understand the activity of P. adspersus we quantified spawning by a population during five summers, and the activity of twenty adult frogs radio-tracked at the same site ca. twice weekly during the first three summers. In addition we examined animal activity, and population spawning in relation to meteorological variables, day of season, and moon light. During the six-month summer period, males and females, respectively, spent 10 ± 7 and 3 ± 2 days at water, and 22 ± 5 and 13 ± 5 nights active. Greater proportions of radio-tracked animals moved overland, and/or foraged at night, around full moon, after heavy rainfall, when cooler, and less windy conditions prevailed. More animals were found at water, or on land during the day, and population spawning was more likely, earlier in summer, following heavier rainfall. Spawning occurred most frequently, in descending order, during December, January, and November, and was triggered by 40 ± 16 mm rain in 24 h. Spawning events lasted 2 ± 1 days, but were prolonged around full moon.Numbers of males at spawning events varied between 30 and 500 males, and were positively correlated with the previous day's rainfall. Annually 6 ± 1 spawning events occurred, and numbers of annual spawning events were positively correlated with total summer rainfall. Results of this study show that single counts of spawning adults will often result in gross underestimates of population size, and therefore, long-term adult counts are necessary to detect real population trends. Due to the unpredictable activity of adults, however, it may be more practical to monitor, within certain areas, the number of aquatic sites where breeding occurs, for improved conservation management of P. adspersus. 3Although photoperiod and the lunar cycle provide predictable cues that amphibians may use to synchronize their behaviour (Fitzgerald & Bider 1974;Both et al. 2008;Canavero & Arim 2009;Grant et al. 2009), the activity of many species is ultimately dictated by unpredictable climatic variables because of their permeable skin and ectothermic bodies (Duellman & Trueb 1994). Among these, precipitation tends to exert the greatest influence (Bulger et al. 2003;Lemckert & Brassil 2003), but temperature (Howard 1978;Van Gelder et al. 1986), humidity (Bellis 1965;Bartelt et al. 2004), wind (Penman et al. 2006Philips et al. 2007), light intensity/cloud cover (Jameson 1955;Blankenhorn 1972), and barometric pressure (Blankenhorn 1972) can also significantly affect amphibian activity. Amphibians in dry and/or cold environments are most limited by suitable warm, wet conditions, making it difficult to predict their behaviour or even their presence (e.g., Bulger et al. 2003;Bartelt et al. 2004;Goldberg & Schwalbe 2004). This can represent a serious challenge for effective conservation management of threatened amphibian taxa (e.g., Penman et al...

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“…Such an approach is central to our understanding of the drivers of change in our most valued habitats, yet there is a limited availability of long-term ecological change data (Burt 1994;Morecroft et al 2009). Long-term experimental plots such as the Park Grass experiment (Silvertown et al 2006) are an important source of ecological data which have been collected regularly and systematically, and which can be analysed with a degree of precision (Lindenmayer and Likens 2012). There are clear advantages in this approach to the long term study of ecological change, but there are also limitations in terms of the low numbers of experimental plot sites and such experimental sites only cover small areas (Hédl 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long-term hay meadow management maintains the target community despite local-scale species turnover

2018

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Hay meadows, which are managed using a low-intensity regime, are characterized by highly diverse vegetation but have declined significantly since the mid twentieth century. Remaining species-rich meadows are often protected by statutory designations and conservation management agreements. However, long-term studies of change in the composition of meadow vegetation, and investigations of the success of conservation over the long-term are rare. Fourteen sites, which had a long history of being managed for field dried hay, were resurveyed after 25 years and redundancy analysis was undertaken to investigate changes in community composition. Investigations of the effect of soil conditions, site size and spatial distribution of the meadow sites were carried out. Although overall community composition had changed significantly, the suite of species representative of the meadow community had been maintained, and species usually associated with more intensively managed grasslands had declined. However, there were losses of particular species of conservation importance such as Alchemilla glabra and Conopodium majus, and losses and gains of species varied from site to site. There was a significant increase in the homogeneity of the meadow vegetation between the two survey years. Comparisons of indicators of soil conditions suggested that there had been no significant change for the community as a whole but analyses of the species showing the most change indicated a decrease in soil fertility. Low-intensity management has been successful in maintaining the meadow community but consideration of changes in key species and losses at the site level is needed. More research is needed to establish whether fragmentation is starting to have an impact on diversity.

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The science and application of ecological monitoring

Cited by 546 publications

References 60 publications

A review of on-ground recovery actions for threatened freshwater fish in Australia

A review of on-ground recovery actions for threatened freshwater fish in Australia

Spawning and non-breeding activity of adult giant bullfrogs (Pyxicephalus adspersus)

Long-term hay meadow management maintains the target community despite local-scale species turnover

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