Inventory & Monitoring

Channel Islands National Park Long-term Monitoring Program

Planning for the Channel Islands National Park long-term monitoring program began in the early 1980s.  The design of the monitoring program followed a step-down tactical plan which included three major components:

• Develop a conceptual model of the ecosystem;
• Conduct design studies; and,
• Monitor ecosystem health.

Factors such as the islands ecological setting, biological resources (populations and communities), environmental forces (climate and ocean currents), land forms (islands and ocean basins), management issues, and the park’s legal purpose were evaluated to determine the function and structure of the prototype monitoring program.  A park-wide conceptual model was developed to capture these influences and included descriptions of the park’s biological features, environmental setting, and its environs and the identification of specific issues or elements that contribute to the integrity of the islands ecosystems.

With the conceptual model, the monitoring program focused on a population dynamics approach because it best met park management requirements of accurately reflecting ecosystem conditions, providing ready interpretation of data and projections of future conditions, utilizing readily available sampling techniques, and providing information applicable to management at the species or population level.

Ecosystem Vital Signs for Channel Islands National Park
To identify taxa for population-level monitoring, the park's ecosystem was divided along ecological disciplines into 14 system components. Using a Delphi approach, vital signs from each ecosystem component were selected from taxa that best represented the entire ecosystem to be monitored. Community-level monitoring was also designed for some ecosystem components that integrate species' responses to natural environmental fluctuation and management treatments.

The process of identification and selection resulted in a monitoring program consisting of 14 "vital signs" for Channel Islands National Park. For each vital sign, scientists identified parameters of population dynamics to measure and then designed monitoring protocols based on five objectives:

• incorporate historical approaches and data whenever possible;
• select or develop sampling techniques that are robust to observer variability;
• utilize standard analytical techniques;
• design reporting formats to archive and clearly communicate immediate findings; and
• evaluate the utility of the protocol by field testing the sampling, analytical, and reporting systems for at least one year

Short term design studies were designed and conducted with preliminary results incorporated into a detailed monitoring protocol handbook. Twelve monitoring protocol handbooks currently exist for the Channel Islands National Park. Most monitoring was initiated during the 1980s and early 1990s with some of the planned monitoring not yet implemented due to budget limitations.