Monitoring and Evaluation
Monitoring-systematic collection of data
Evaluation-use of data to make decisions regarding
restoration or success of restoration
-use ecological data from ecological studies of ecosystems
as reference sites for comparison to restored sites
Adaptive Management
Educators have defined evaluations called formative and
summative assessments and most of the evaluation that
has been done in restoration ecology would be
summative
Summative evaluation involves completion criteria or
performance standards Table 5.1 Examples of Mine site
restoration in Finland
Formative assessments are more difficult to conduct but
has become important in recent years as a type of
recurrent decision making based on site-specific
feedback called adaptive management Fig. 5.1
Table 5.1
Figure 5.1 The Adaptive Management Cycle
Adaptive Management
Ex. Tidal Marshes
-for many projects, the initial monitoring in adaptive
management is driven by a comparison between the
original plan and the outcome Fig. 5.2
-Sweetwater Marsh, a restoration of a salt marsh in San
Diego restored to mitigate loss of wetlands and
endangered species habitat caused by highway
construction and flood control projects required yearly
monitoring and assessment of goals including one,
which was the establishment of five patches of
endangered salt marsh bird’s beak Fig. 5.3
-monitoring revealed flowering but no seed production and
further research indicated that ground-nesting beetles
were needed for pollination, so the plant was introduced
at other sites that had beetles
Figure 5.2 A comparison of the proposed (A) and “as-built” (B) topography of a hypothetical
restored tidal wetland. The As built has less inundated topography and may need more work
Figure 5.3 The salt-marsh bird’s beak, a hemiparasitic annual plant, had been extirpated from
Sweetwater marsh and reintroduced in the 1980s mitigation project
Choosing Monitoring Parameters
Parameter-property whose measures determine the
characteristics or behavior of something
Ex. Secchi disk readings are a commonly measured
parameter for detecting change in water clarity in aquatic
ecosystems Fig. 5.4
Table 5.2 lists some desirable characteristics for monitoring
parameters
Figure 5.4 Measuring water clarity with a Secchi disk
Table 5.2 (Part 1)
Table 5.2 (Part 2)
Monitoring Protocols- Data collection methods
-data collection protocols form the instruction manual for
the monitoring plan
-detailed descriptions are needed for two reasons:
1. Insure all observers collect data with minimal deviation
2. Those evaluating the data understand the nature of the
information
-if possible use standard methods that have emerged from
research and practices in ecology and population biology
Monitoring Protocols- Timing, frequency, and duration
Monitoring Protocols- Timing, frequency, and duration
Figure 5.7 Environmental staff inspecting revegetation on a mined land rehabilitation site in the
jarrah forests of Western Australia
Monitoring Protocols- Spatial issues
-some parameters related to small populations of plants or
animals can be monitored by recording observations of
all individuals=census
-most parameters are estimated from samples taken at
selected locations
-parameters that can be directly observed lend themselves
to monitoring relatively large areas Ex. Species
composition of birds or plants in an ecosystem using
comprehensive censuses, along transects, or in plots
-some parameters may be sampled at strategic locations
like animal watering holes or attractants like bait or light
Fig. 5.8
Figure 5.8 Scientists sample night-flying insects from a broad area by using a light to attract them
to a single place
Monitoring Protocols- Spatial issues
-in large areas, multiple samples are often needed and use
4 sampling schemes:
-grids were used at 1-2 meter intervals with interpolation
and mapping of elevation to determine balance in erosion
and sedimentation at Provo River restoration in Utah Fig.
5.10
Figure 5.9 Alternative sampling schemes for an oil pad restoration site on Alaska’s North Slope
Figure 5.10 Change in channel elevation due to sediment losses and gains during a prescribed
flooding event on the Provo River
Monitoring Protocols- Spatial issues
How many sampling points or plots are needed to reliably
represent an area?
-depends on variance-degree of dispersion of data points
from mean
< variance= < sampling and > variance = > sampling Fig.
5.11
-variance may change through time in restored ecosystems
and consistent sampling at established stations provides
the greatest sensitivity to changes over time and marking
corners of plots with permanent markers allows
observers to return to exactly the same site Fig. 5.12
Figure 5.11 These two sites have the same average number of individuals per microsite, but a very
different variance. High variance requires more sampling to obtain accurate estimates
Figure 5.12 Markers to relocate sampling sites for long-term monitoring must be durable; it helps if
they are visible, as well
Interpreting Monitoring Data- Comparisons to reference sites
-interpreting monitoring data often involves comparisons to
reference sites near the restoration
-data from reference sites can also come from published
literature or publicly available reports
Ex. Jarrah Forest in Australia restored after bauxite mining
relied on comparisons to both nearby reference sites and
sites from the published literature. Comparisons to the
reference site (control) forest for mites sensitive to
environmental factors like pH and soil moisture were
used to compare pit restorations of different ages Table
5.3
Table 5.3
Interpreting Monitoring Data- Data analysis
-modest monitoring projects yield large amounts of data
-must determine the likelihood that the differences
observed in parameters is due to the restoration and not
just due to chance or causes other than the restoration
actions=Difference is statistically significant.
-use various statistical tests to compare parameters
Ex. At Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge in Iowa,
scientists observed an increase in soil organic carbon
content over time after reestablishment of native tall
grass prairie vegetation. It was lower than at reference
sites but the regression analysis indicated that the
increase over time was statistically significant Fig. 5.13
Ex. Before-After-Control-Impact analysis can be used to
determine if parameters have changed in response to an
action by comparing values before and after the action
Fig. 5.14
Figure 5.13 Changes in soil organic carbon content over a 14-year period in a restored tallgrass
prairie (Case K)
Figure 5.14 Before–After–Control–Impact (design) analysis can be used to compare restored
ecosystems with intact reference sites
Interpreting Monitoring Data- Using data for decision making
Decision tree-graphic representation of potential restoration
decisions in which alternatives are dichotomous
branches in the tree, each branch corresponding to a
range of conditions that might occur in one or more
parameters
Ex. Decision tree developed for prioritizing sites for control
of introduced, invasive salt cedar on the Dolores River in
the southwestern USA Figs. 5.15-5.16
Figure 5.15 Restorationists are working to reverse the spread of an introduced woody plant,
Tamarix spp., in the floodplain of the Dolores River, Colorado and sites for restoration were
prioritized with a decision tree
Figure 5.16 Decision tree for prioritizing sites for tamarisk control on the Dolores River, Colorado
area, and logical extension of previous projects
Managing Project Records and Monitoring Data Sets- Case histories
Case history- the record of actions and changes to
restoration sites or recovering populations
-complete case histories contain four kinds of information
Managing Project Records and Monitoring Data Sets- Data management
Data must be managed so that it is high quality and
complete. Errors include:
-monitoring plans should include procedures to minimize
these errors and make data available to current and future
researchers Ex. BP’s environmental team maintains
restoration of oil and gas resource areas in Alaska using a
simple GIS map with links to sites that when opened
contain site maps, plans, and progress reports