MEASURING & MONITORING Plant Populations

The root of the word monitoring means to warn, and an essential purpose of monitoring is to raise a warning flag that the current course of action is not working. Monitoring is a powerful tool for identifying problems in the early stages, before they become dramatically obvious or crises. If identified early, problems can be addressed while cost-effective solutions are still available. For example, an invasive species that threatens a rare plant population is much easier to control at the initial stages of invasion, compared to eradicating it once it is well established at a site. Monitoring is also critical for measuring management success. Good monitoring can demonstrate that the current management approach is working and provide evidence supporting the continuation of current management

Measuring & Monitering Plant Populations

This technical reference describes the role of effective monitoring and provides a step-by-step overview of the entire monitoring process for single plant species. The challenges of successful monitoring involve efficient and specific design and a commitment to implementation of the monitoring project, from data collection to reporting and using results. The material in this reference is presented in a logical progression from planning and objective setting, designing the methodology, and taking the measurements in the field to analyzing and presenting the data and making the necessary management responses. However, many of the steps occur simultaneously or provide feedback for the others. Decisions made at each step of the monitoring process can affect the whole project and may sometime lead to reassessment of previous decisions

MEASURING & MONITORING Plant Populations

The root of the word monitoring means to warn, and an essential purpose of monitoring is to raise a warning flag that the current course of action is not working. Monitoring is a powerful tool for identifying problems in the early stages, before they become dramatically obvious or crises. If identified early, problems can be addressed while cost-effective solutions are still available. For example, an invasive species that threatens a rare plant population is much easier to control at the initial stages of invasion, compared to eradicating it once it is well established at a site. Monitoring is also critical for measuring management success. Good monitoring can demonstrate that the current management approach is working and provide evidence supporting the continuation of current management

Vegetation monitoring : an annotated bibliography /

no.35