Phase I report, vital signs monitoring plan, Southwest Alaska Network

Bennett, Alan; Oakley, Karen; Mortenson, Dorothy

In 2001, a network of five national park units in Southwest Alaska began the process of planning a long-term natural resources monitoring program. This report summarizes two years of progress in designing that program. Completion of a final monitoring plan for the network is anticipated to take five years and involve three phases. Phase One involved defining goals and preliminary objectives; identifying, evaluating, and synthesizing existing data; and developing draft conceptual models. Phases II and III will involve selection of indicators (vital signs) and design of sampling protocols. This report defines the purpose and scope of the monitoring program and uses examples to describe how managers can use information gained from long-term monitoring to protect park resources. It also highlights natural resources and ecosystems of network parks that are of national and global significance and summarize existing data for these resources. Finally, some general principles of landscape ecology are reviewed and explained how they are the foundation of a holistic approach to long-term monitoring in large national parks. Conceptual models are used to explain how drivers of change and ecological interactions affect landscape patterns, ecological processes, and selected natural resource components of network parks.