Chapte r 7. Mo nito ring
Required Element 5 : Proposed plans for monitoring species (as identified in Required Element 1) and their habitats (as described in Required Element 2), for monitoring the effectiveness of the conservation actions proposed in Required Element 4, and for adapting these conservation actions to respond appropriately to new information or changing conditions.
7.1 Introduction Monitoring and evaluation are tools that scientists can use to measure change over time in species populations, habitat status, or the effects of activities. These tools also provide information for the interpretation of those measured changes. Monitoring and evaluation are especially important to examine whether there has been a response to applied conservation actions and are necessarily linked to conservation and management objectives. Monitoring conducted at multiple levels (e.g., species, guilds, or natural communities) and across multiple scales (e.g., local, statewide, and regional) is required to assess changes that occur in populations and habitats over time: • Species-specific monitoring is an important component of any conservation program and allows an agency or organization to assess topics such as wildlife population trends, estimated population size, relative abundance, or shifts in distribution or range. Monitoring of individual species, when coordinated at the appropriate level, contributes to the conservation of species beyond local populations and at scales far beyond individual state boundaries. • Guild-level monitoring (e.g., ephemeral pond amphibians, colonial waterbirds) is essential for tracking and assessing habitat-level impacts over time. It allows us to assess habitat availability, use, and condition over time, and can be used to measure the effectiveness of habitat-based management activities. Habitat and natural community monitoring is necessary to track landscape-level trends and to anticipate future needs as threats change. • Implementation monitoring is needed to measure project success and advancement toward achieving project goals. It allows us to adapt conservation actions to respond appropriately to new information or to changing conditions. Monitoring needs for particular species or guilds are detailed in other sections of this Plan: Chapters 3 (NC Species), Chapter 4 (Habitats), and Chapter 5 (Threats). This chapter provides information about monitoring activities conducted by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission
2025 NC Wildlife Action Plan
7-1
Made with FlippingBook Ebook Creator