Monitoring 4 Flashcards
What is passive restoration? What two key factors mainly determine the likelihood of whether a site can be restored?
Repairs in time after little or no intervention
1) Stressors Eliminated
2) Native plantings survive
List two protocols to follow to help guide Goals and Objectives
SMART specific measurable attainable results oriented time specific
SWOT-C (site assessment) Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats Constraints
Why do goals and objectives need to be dynamic?
Inform one another. ER is inexact but an iterative process.
It is hard to predict what will be successful and therefore adaptive management needs to be integrated into the framework.
What characteristics should an indicator have and how many should you choose?
1) Easy to measure
2) Strong reflector of ecosystem health
3) Change in response to restoration
Herrick suggests we choose 2 or more falling into the categories of
1) Soil Characteristics
2) Hydrology
3) Biological Integrity
What is the purpose of sampling? Be familiar with the various terms related to sampling that we discussed. To ensure sampling is representative of the target population, what two key elements must be achieved? Contrast simple random and systematic sampling, and be able to apply these. What strategies can be used to identify appropriate sample size?
1) Inferences about a population, given constraints
2) Increased precision with increased sampling but more cost.
3) Representative picture of site by reducing bias and getting adequate coverage
4) Maximize sampling by looking at budget, seeing what you can afford, avoiding oversampling homogenous areas and increasing in heterogeneous
What are the components of an effective monitoring plan?
What goals you're measuring Where the sampling is done What you'll compare it to How you're going to do it Sampling design Schedule
Two reasons why ER is considered inexact
1) Lack suitable reference sites. Moving targets.
2) Lack clear and reliable restoration methods
What do strong nitrate levels in the water indicated about the landscape?
Leaky Landscape - Nitrate levels indicate the land isn’t holding on to the nutrients. Measurements should be taken at high flow times.
How much of the great lakes basin is impassible to fish? What type of Fish?
87% of basin
Adfluvial Fish - Born in rivers, migrate to lakes, spawn back in rivers.
What are the trends in the Salish Sea bird populations and what is the cause?
70% decline due to loss of forage fish - herring.
What two factors leads to the least cost/area in terms of barrier removal?
Increased costs/area over time. Best if funding spent in one shot.
Over larger areas - diminishing returns/unit area.
What tool could you use to determine which barriers to remove?
fishwerks
What compensation is Alberta currently testing for wetlands?
20,000/ha of wetland drained. Will be given to DU to create new wetlands. Landowners bid for projects, researchers choose which will likely be successful.
What species was recently found in the salish sea?
What two factors limited it’s arrival?
European Green Crab - pulls out eel grass to find prey. Found in 2016.
1) Currents from watershed
2) Low temp preventing larval development
Why is the SPEP and USGA monitoring mussel abundance?
SPES is monitoring mussels because they are interested in protecting the Barrows Goldeneye which relies on mussels as a food source during the winter. The USGA is monitoring mussels because they are static, easy to sample organisms which are key intertidal prey and indicate intertidal health/ productivity. By looking at the distribution of mussels over large geographical areas they can get an overall understanding of how changing environmental conditions (climate change etc.) affect intertidal dynamics and food chains
