Monitoring

Natural resource monitoring is a central component of natural resource stewardship in the National Park Service. In conjunction with natural resource inventories, management, and research, monitoring provides the information needed for effective, science-based managerial decisionmaking and resource protection. The intent of the NPS long-term ecological monitoring program is to track a subset of park resources and processes, known as “vital signs,” that are determined to be the most significant indicators of ecosystem conditions.

Vital signs are a subset of physical, chemical, and biological elements and processes of park ecosystems that are selected to represent the overall health or condition of park resources, known or hypothesized effects of stressors, or elements that have important human values. The elements and processes monitored are a subset of the total suite of natural resources that park managers are directed to preserve “unimpaired for future generations,” including water, air, geological resources, plants and animals, and the ecological, biological, and physical processes that act on those resources.

SODN vital signs were identified through a formal, multi-step process that included network staff, park staff, and outside scientists. The SODN has developed several monitoring protocols that incorporate multiple vital signs.

The Sonoran Desert Network is implementing an integrated natural resource monitoring program for 11 national park units, as outlined in the SODN Monitoring Plan. The program is guided by five overarching goals:

• Determine status and trends in selected indicators of the condition of park ecosystems to allow managers to make better-informed decisions, and to work more effectively with other agencies and individuals for the benefit of park resources.
• Provide early warning of abnormal conditions of selected resources to help develop effective mitigation measures and reduce costs of management.
• Provide data to better understand the dynamic nature and condition of park ecosystems, and provide reference points for comparisons with other altered environments
• Provide data to meet certain legal and congressional mandates related to natural resource protection and visitor enjoyment.
• Provide a means of measuring progress toward performance goals.

The SODN initiated its monitoring program in 2005 by measuring landbirds and streams. In subsequent years, the network has begun monitoring air quality (2006), terrestrial vegetation and soils (2007), and groundwater (2008). Additional protocols will be implemented in future years.

Monitoring I Monitoring Protocols | Monitoring by Park