Long-term natural resources monitoring in Channel Islands National Park and National Marine Sanctuary, CA
Halvorson WL and Davis GE. 1987. Long-term natural resources monitoring in Channel Islands National Park and National Marine Sanctuary, CA. Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America. 68(3):318
Long-term population dynamics monitoring is being tested as a method to determine ecosystem health, to discover cause-and-effect in system structure and function, and to define limits of natural variation in ecosystem components. Of the nearly 2,000 species known from the park, nearly 500 were selected, via a Delphi technique, as potential index species. Design studies that developed and tested standardized data collection, analysis, and report formats were conducted for 14 major taxa (e.g., sea birds). Monitoring systems for weather, ocean temperatures, and sea-level were also designed in conjunction with the biological components. As the short term design studies are completed, long-term (> 50 yrs) monitoring is being implemented by park staff. A systems analysis approach is being taken to integrate the monitoring design of these 14 separate studies to apply monitoring data to management issues and to formulate testable hypothesis about ecosystem dynamics and health.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Halvorson, William; Davis, Gary
- Units
- CHIS
- Keywords
- Management, Monitoring