Freshwater Vital Signs Monitoring Plan for National Parks in the Northeast Temperate Network (NETN) - Phase III Development of Freshwater Monitoring Protocols for High Priority Vital Signs

Lombard, Pamela

Phases I and 2 have been completed. This proposal is confined to phase 3: developing freshwater monitoring protocols for high priority vital signs in NETN parksNational Park managers are directed by federal law to know the status and trends in the condition of natural resources under their stewardship in order to fulfill the National Park Service mission of conserving the scenery, and the natural and historic objects and wildlife in national parks unimpaired. In order to fulfill this mission, it is necessary to identify and understand changes in complex, variable and imperfectly understood natural systems and to provide insight into whether observed changes are within natural levels of variability or indicate excessive human influence. The Northeast Temperate Network (NETN) consists of 10 parks in 7 states. These parks are grouped together based on their common ecological resources, northeastern temperate forests and the wetland and aquatic systems that accompany them. Currently, the Parks and Historic Sites in this network do not all have monitoring programs in place that will adequately identify trends in the status of the freshwater resources over the long term. Recognizing the need for comprehensive long-term monitoring of ecological resources within the U.S. National Park system, the National Park Service undertook a major new initiative to develop a program for long-term monitoring of "vital signs" or indicators of ecological integrity within the parks. The Inventory and Monitoring Vital Signs Program incorporates a three-phase approach: Phase 1- define goals and objectives; begin the process of identifying, evaluating and synthesizing existing data; develop draft conceptual models; and complete other background work; Phase 2- prioritize and select vital signs and develop specific monitoring objectives for each park and the network; and, Phase 3- develop detailed plans to implement monitoring; including the development of sampling protocols, a statistical sampling design, and a plan for data management and analysis. The objective of this project is to draft, a freshwater monitoring protocol that includes Standard Operating Procedures for all identified high priority vital signs, and quality control.