Condition Monitoring

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EI Monitoring Science Challenges
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Condition Monitoring
Monitoring conducted over the whole park in the
long term to detect major trends in park EI -
What is the state of park EI?
Management Effectiveness Monitoring
Monitoring conducted over small areas to assess
the effectiveness of specific park management
actions What are we doing to improve park EI?
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Common Issues/Common Solutions

• Generally the same elements are missing in almost
  all park monitoring programs
• Permanent, long term monitoring of ecosystem
  process measures at local and landscape scales
• conceptual ecosystem models linking EI components
  (biodiversity, processes, stressors) for major
  park ecosystems to EI Measures and Indicators
• final suite of EI measures
• management targets and thresholds for EI Measures
  
• assessment methodologies for EI Indicators

Given the same missing program elements we can
work together to develop common solutions to park
EI monitoring and reporting issues
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Science Challenges

• How do we capture EI?
• What do we measure?
• What do our measurements mean?
• Communicate!!!

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Capturing EI

• EI monitoring framework
• major park ecosystems as EI indicators
• core conceptual ecosystem models
• local and landscape scales of measurement

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Ecosystem Realms and Major Park Ecosystems
UPLANDS
forests/woodlands arctic/alpine
tundra grasslands other non-forested
WETLANDS
beaches dunes cliffs
riparian, wetlands
COASTAL
estuaries
inter-tidal sub-tidal near-shore pelagic
rivers/streams lakes/ponds
lagoons
FRESHWATER
MARINE
MPEs for Great Lakes Bioregion
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EI Indicator
major park ecosystems
Concerned
EI Impaired
High EI
Public environment
Science environment
feedback
biodiversity/processes
human dimension
models
statistics
stressors
measures/data
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EI INDICATORS by BIOREGION
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Ecological Integrity Monitoring Framework
Biodiversity
Process and Function
Stressors

• Species richness
• - change in species richness
• - numbers and extent of exotics
• Population Dynamics
• - mortality/natility rates of indicator species
• - immigration/emigration of indicator species
• - population viability of indicator species
• Trophic structure
• - size class distribution of all taxa
• predation levels

• Succession/retrogression
• - disturbance frequencies and size (fire.
  insects, flooding)
• - vegetation age class distributions
• Productivity
• - landscape or by site
• Decomposition
• -by site
• Nutrient retention
• Ca, N by site

• Human land-use patterns
• - land use maps, roads densities, population
  densities.
• Habitat fragmentation
• - patch size, inter-patch distance, forest
  interior
• Pollutants
• - sewage, petrochemicals etc.
• - long-range transport of toxics
• Climate
• - weather data
• - frequency of extreme events
• Other
• park specific issues

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Ecologically Comprehensive
EI FRAMEWORK
EI INDICATOR
Biodiversity
Processes
Stressors
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EI indicators for Atlantic-Quebec Bioregion
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Forest EI Indicator
Concerned
Critical
Healthy
Stand Level Forest EI
Landscape Level Forest EI
Models
tree productivity, songbird index, salamander
populations change, foliar nutrient index,
decomposition efficiency
FF BioD Index (SAR, top predators, ungulates),
CFBioD Index (ecosystem representation),
connectivity, productivity
Measures
dbh, canopy condition, species composition,
chopstick dry weight loss, songbird/salamander
density, relative soil arthropod abundance,
foliar nutrient concentrations
SAR and other species population assessments,
relative ecosystem abundance, Fragstats, AVHRR
Data
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Core Bioregional Forest Stand Model
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Core Bioregional Forest Landscape Model
disturbance
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Roles of Ecosystem Conceptual Models

• reduce ecosystem complexity essential components
  of biodiversity, processes and stressors (EI) to
  prioritize monitoring measures organize
  protocols and measures
• COMMUNICATE approach and results
• science peers inside and outside parks
• park managers, interpreters etc
• all Canadians
• improve EI assessments conceptually related and
  co-located measures (long term plot data)
  provides internal logic
• incorporate other park management activities
  ecological frame for including restoration,
  infrastructure changes, visitor changes,
  operational changes, etc

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Forest EI Indicator
Concerned
Critical
Healthy
Stand Level Forest EI
Landscape Level Forest EI
Models
tree productivity, songbird index, salamander
populations change, foliar nutrient index,
decomposition efficiency
FF BioD Index (SAR, top predators, ungulates),
CFBioD Index (ecosystem representation),
connectivity, productivity
Measures
dbh, canopy condition, species composition,
chopstick dry weight loss, songbird/salamander
density, relative soil arthropod abundance,
foliar nutrient concentrations
SAR and other species population assessments,
relative ecosystem abundance, Fragstats, AVHRR
Data
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Conceptual Model Streams
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Reporting Park EI
6-8 EI Indicators
SOP synopsis (indicators)
science foundation (measurements and models)
Forests
Wetlands
Lakes
Streams
Marine
Coastal
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What to Measure and How to Measure it?

• given the vast number of things we could measure,
  what do we measure?
• PSOCLCIEIMs the Holy Grail
• measuring the park study designs

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The Holy Grail

• To find a parsimonious suite of co-located,
  ecologically inter-related EI measures that
  provide a comprehensive summary of park forest EI
  at an acceptable financial and human resources
  cost

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Forest EI Indicator
Concerned
Critical
Healthy
Stand Level Forest EI
Landscape Level Forest EI
Models
tree productivity, songbird index, salamander
populations change, foliar nutrient index,
decomposition efficiency
FF BioD Index (SAR, top predators, ungulates),
CFBioD Index (ecosystem representation),
connectivity, productivity
Measures
dbh, canopy condition, species composition,
chopstick dry weight loss, songbird/salamander
density, relative soil arthropod abundance,
foliar nutrient concentrations
SAR and other species population assessments,
relative ecosystem abundance, Fragstats, AVHRR
Data
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Selecting Measures

• cost-effective, information-rich, low signal to
  noise
• credible supported by science
  community/research
• feasible to measure (technical field staff)
  same day suites
• comes with a story, e.g., soil arthropods?
• works well as part of a ecologically-integrated
  suite that covers conceptual model components
• shared by monitoring partners (provinces/territori
  es, communities, model forests, industry)

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FOREST STANDS
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Core Bioregional Forest Stand Model
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FOREST LANDSCAPES
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Core Bioregional Forest Landscape Model
disturbance
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Establishing Long Term Monitoring General Rules

• For all EI indicators data on biodiversity,
  processes and stressors should be collected at 2
  scales local and landscape
• Representative local ecosystems of the major park
  ecosystem (forest stands, eelgrass beds, stream
  reaches, kelp beds, wetland types) need to be
  selected for measurement based on available
  resources, park management priorities and
  bioregional approaches
• Whole park and greater park measures and
  assessments of indicators based on EO/RS GIS
  data

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Changes in Forest Site - Spatial Variability
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Changes in Forest Structure Temporal
Variability
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FOREST ECOSYSTEM REPRESENTATION
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Selecting Representative Ecosystems

• average (mesic) ecosystems
• most abundant ecosystems
• ecosystems with high conservation importance
• ecosystems most sensitive to known stressors
• base poor ecosystems susceptible to acid rain
• droughty ecosystems where prolonged summer
  drought is forecast

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N
Arthropod traps
50m
5m
E
W
S
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A CO-LOCATED, ECOLOGICALLY INTER-RELATED SUITE OF
LOCAL FOREST EI MEASURES
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Forest EI Indicator
Concerned
Critical
Healthy
Stand Level Forest EI
Landscape Level Forest EI
Models
tree productivity, songbird index, salamander
populations change, foliar nutrient index,
decomposition efficiency
FF BioD Index (SAR, top predators, ungulates),
CFBioD Index (ecosystem representation),
connectivity, productivity
Measures
dbh, canopy condition, species composition,
chopstick dry weight loss, songbird/salamander
density, relative soil arthropod abundance,
foliar nutrient concentrations
SAR and other species population assessments,
relative ecosystem abundance, Fragstats, AVHRR
Data
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Targets and Thresholds

• Whats the question?
• Whats the answer?
• Developing targets and thresholds.

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The question is.
What is the state of park EI?
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Humus Decomposition Sub-model
soil biota interactions and processes
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Targets, Baselines and Thresholds
precautionary principle
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Dry Weight Loss of Wood Decomposition
Standard (percent dry weight loss)
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Establishing Targets and Thresholds Soil
Decomposition
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Clear Monitoring Questions

• H01 local scale (stand level) forest ecological
  integrity has not changed significantly over the
  last 5 years in mature eastern hemlock ecosystems
  in Kejimkujik NP
• H01.1 soil humus decomposition has not changed
  more
• than 35
• H01.2 forest salamander population densities
  have not
• decreased more than 12
• H01.3 foliar N concentrations have not
  decreased more
• than 0.5 foliar dry weight
• etc

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Communicating EI Monitoring
Nutrient Cycling
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Desired Condition forForest Landscapes
Rationale

• most parks are not natural and have had
  historical impacts that require
  management/restoration
• active landscape management is required to meet
  park conservation needs prescribed burning,
  ecosystem restoration, species re-introductions,
  alien invasives
• management activities require performance
  reporting targets to assess progress towards
  desired goals landscape targets will be set
  against patterns of natural successions and
  disturbance
• Desired condition targets for terrestrial
  landscapes need to be based on desired
  conservation services the landscape can
  realistically provide

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Desired Condition forForest Landscapes
Conservation Services

• Habitat suitability for focal species, e.g.,
  charismatic, major park ungulates and carnivores,
  indicators, keystones, species at risk
• Ecosystem representation rare ecosystems, old
  forests, structural stage targets
• Landscape productivity within historical range
  of productivity as measured by NDVI or NPP
• Landscape pattern desired states for
  connectivity/fragmentation
• Landscape processes ice features (permafrost,
  thermokarst, solifluction etc), flooding regimes,
  mass wasting rates,
• Operational and safety needs fire/fuel
  management, RoWs, roads and visitor access/use,
  harvesting

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EI Assessment of Change Analysis Data
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Hypothesis Testing/Monitoring Questions

• H01 landscape scale forest ecological integrity
  has not changed significantly over the last 5
  years in Kejimkujik NP
• H01.1 fragstat index target
• H01.2 forest ecosystem representation target
• H01.3 white tailed deer density is between
  0.25 and 0.75 animals/ha
• H01.4 cowcalf ratio in white tailed deer is
  greater than 1.2
• H01.5 NPP of forest landscapes is between ?
  and ?
• etc

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EI Assessments

• What is the state of park EI?
• How to defensibly Integrate and assess monitoring
  results to report the state of the park?
• IBI approaches stress gradients
• Internal logic / rule systems based on
  conceptual ecosystem models

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Bruce Peninsula National Park
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Stress Gradients
Bruce Peninsula National Park
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Measures to Indicators
Simple Roll Up
1
3
5
salamander abundance
0
45
15
30
forest bird richness
BIODIVERSITY
0
22
7.3
14.6
effective patch size
0.2
78.4
26.3
52.6
decomposition
11
89
37
63
regeneration (height class)
PROCESSES
0
13
3
6
productivity (NDVI)
0.1
0.9
0.4
0.7
lichen diversity
14
35
21
28
crown vigor
STRESSORS
0
20
10
5
fragmentation (ENN)
50
250
117
184
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Measures to Indicators
Simple Roll Up
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LTEMPs
forest salamanders
forest songbirds
carnivores
climate change
human effects
predation
epidemic insect outbreaks
herbivores
soil arthropods
humus decomposition
herbivory
ingress/mortality
decomposition
growth/health of stand dominants
EMAN plot data
vegetation
species diversity/dominance/abundance
nutrient/moisture uptake
foliar nutrients
soil humus
mineral soil
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What an excellent monitoring measure a top
predator and one of a conceptually inter-related
suite of measures to assess aquatic ecosystem EI
That man is so cool hes monitoring EI
The Day Monitoring Became Cool