Human Demographic Monitoring

Importance / Issues

Information on human demographic data is essential for understanding impacts to parks from the surrounding area. Many of the parks in the SOPN are subject to encroaching and changing agricultural, residential and urban development, and these landscape modifications are closely linked to park ecosystem function.  Due to the small size of many SOPN parks, the natural resources can be more influenced by land uses surrounding the park than actual management practices within the park. By following changes in human development park managers can take pre-emptive actions to minimize the effects from habitat fragmentation, increased pollution sources, increased avenues for exotic pests, and audio/visual change. >> more information

Preliminary Monitoring Objectives

1. Detect trends in human demographic data in the vicinity of SOPN parks.

Potential Measures

Land ownership patterns, land value, traffic volume, human density

Protocol Development & Status

To be determined. The network is determining whether this vital sign can be integrated into the landscape dynamics protocol. A decision will be made this fall whether an additional cooperator or staff member to lead will be needed to develope this vital sign.

Contact Information

Dustin Perkins
Southern Plains Network
Post Office Box 329
Johnson City, TX 78636
830-868-7128 ext. 281
dustin_w_perkins@nps.gov

References

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