Phase 1 Vital Signs Monitoring Plan for the Northeast Temperate Network

Shriver, Greg; Dieffenbach, Fred

The complicated task of developing a network monitoring program requires an initial investment in planning and design to guarantee that monitoring meets the most critical information needs of each park and produces scientifically credible results that are clearly understood and accepted by scientists, policy makers, and the public, and that are readily accessible to managers and researchers. These front-end investments also ensure that monitoring will build upon existing information and understanding of park ecosystems and make maximum use of leveraging and partnerships with other agencies and academia. Each network is required to design an integrated monitoring program that addresses specific the monitoring goals and is tailored to the high-priority monitoring needs and partnership opportunities for the parks in that network. Although there will be considerable variability among networks in the final design, the basic approach to designing a monitoring program should follow five basic steps: 1) Define the purpose and scope of the monitoring program; 2) Compile and summarize existing data and understanding of park ecosystems and resource management issues; 3) Develop conceptual models of relevant ecosystem components; 4) Select indicators and specific monitoring objectives for each and; 5) Determine the appropriate sampling design and sampling protocols. These steps are incorporated into a 3-phase planning and design process that has been established for the monitoring program. Phase 1 of the process involves defining goals and objectives; beginning the process of identifying, evaluating and synthesizing existing data; developing draft conceptual models; and completing other background work that must be done before the initial selection of ecological indicators. Each network is required to document these tasks in a Phase 1 report, which is then peer reviewed and approved at the regional level before the network proceeds to the next phase. Phase 2 of the planning and design effort involves prioritizing and selecting vital signs and developing specific monitoring objectives for each that will be included in the network’s initial integrated monitoring program. Phase 3 entails the detailed design work needed to implement monitoring, including the development of sampling protocols, a statistical sampling design, a plan for data management and analysis, and details on the type and content of various products of the monitoring effort such as reports and websites.