9/30/20 Ecological Monitoring for Successful Restoration Mark Vergara Principal Environmental Consultant Acacia Environmental Management mark.vergara@acacia.cc 01 October 2020 1 Introduction Mark Vergara Introduction • Acacia Environmental Management Ecological Monitoring • ~20 years experience Kinds of Monitoring • Assoc. Environmental Technology, USA • Effective Monitoring BSc Ecology, Philippines; • MSc Marine Biology, Philippines; Importance of Monitoring • GC Arboriculture (ongoing, UniMelb) Let’s Get Technical Citizen Science • wetlands management and water quality monitoring, Florida Monitoring & Evaluation • coastal resource assessment and monitoring, SE Asia; Middle East Summary • urban planning, habitat restoration and habitat creation in Asia; Pre – Lockdown Enduring - Lockdown Q&A • water quality monitoring and ecological assessments in Victoria 2 2 1
9/30/20 Definitions • to watch and check something over a period of time in order to see how it develops, so that you can make any necessary Introduction changes – Oxford Dictionary Ecological Monitoring • Synonyms: Track and Follow Kinds of Monitoring Effective Monitoring Importance of Monitoring • repeated field-based empirical measurements are collected Let’s Get Technical continuously and then analyzed (Lindenmayer & Likens 2010) Citizen Science • the process of purposefully collecting information to track and Monitoring & Evaluation understand changes in ecosystem structure, ecological Summary processes, and the ecological services that ecosystems Q&A provide (Lindenmayer & Likens 2018) 3 3 Long-term Monitoring • Barro Colorado, Panama (1923) Introduction Ecological Monitoring • Koonamore Vegetation Reserve, SA (1925) Kinds of Monitoring • Alpine Long Term Monitoring, VIC (1947) Effective Monitoring • AIMS LTMP Great Barrier Reef (1983) Importance of Monitoring Let’s Get Technical (Lamb 2017) Citizen Science Monitoring & Evaluation Summary Q&A 4 4 2
9/30/20 Long-term Monitoring (longtermecology.com) Introduction Ecological Monitoring Kinds of Monitoring Effective Monitoring Importance of Monitoring Let’s Get Technical Citizen Science Monitoring & Evaluation Summary Q&A 5 5 Kinds of Monitoring • Curiosity-driven or passive monitoring Introduction Ecological Monitoring • Mandated monitoring Kinds of Monitoring Effective Monitoring • Question-driven monitoring Importance of Monitoring Let’s Get Technical Citizen Science Monitoring & Evaluation Summary Q&A (Lindenmayer & Likens 2010) 6 6 3
9/30/20 Question-driven Monitoring Introduction Ecological Monitoring Kinds of Monitoring Effective Monitoring Importance of Monitoring Let’s Get Technical Citizen Science Monitoring & Evaluation Summary Q&A (Hutto and Belote 2013) 7 7 Characteristics of Effective Monitoring Introduction Ecological Monitoring Kinds of Monitoring Effective Monitoring Importance of Monitoring Let’s Get Technical Citizen Science Monitoring & Evaluation Summary Q&A (Burns et al. 2018; LTERN 2014) 8 8 4
9/30/20 Fit for Purpose Introduction Ecological Monitoring Kinds of Monitoring Effective Monitoring Importance of Monitoring Let’s Get Technical Citizen Science Monitoring & Evaluation Summary Q&A (Goldsmith 1991, Monitoring for Conservation and Ecology; Burns et al. 2018; LTERN 2014) 9 9 Conceptual Models Introduction Ecological Monitoring Kinds of Monitoring Effective Monitoring Importance of Monitoring Let’s Get Technical Citizen Science Monitoring & Evaluation Summary Q&A (Szmant 2002) (Lewis 2020) (Dixon et al. 2018) (Rice et al. 2006) 10 10 5
9/30/20 Importance of Monitoring • identify whether the actions are working as expected or need to be modified Introduction • provide evidence to stakeholders that specific goals are being Ecological Monitoring achieved; and, Kinds of Monitoring • answer specific questions Effective Monitoring Importance of Monitoring (McDonald et al. 2016; SERA 2017) Let’s Get Technical Citizen Science • Without monitoring, policy-making and management will be largely Monitoring & Evaluation devoid of evidence and unable to demonstrate return on Summary environmental investment by funding agencies Q&A (Lindenmayer et al. 2018) 11 11 Case in Point Project Name : The Regent Honeyeater Habitat Restoration Project Project Location : Lurg Hills, near Benalla, Victoria, Australia Introduction Project Goals : The broad aim of the Regent Honeyeater Project (RHP) is to Ecological Monitoring protect and restore all significant remnants of Box-Ironbark and Box-Gum Grassy Kinds of Monitoring Woodland habitat in the Lurg Hills and to reconnect them through revegetation. Effective Monitoring Strategic focus is placed on higher fertility sites while also forming links to drier upland habitats. Importance of Monitoring Time Frame : 1996-05-04 : 2009-05-04 Let’s Get Technical Monitoring: The project does not have a monitoring plan. Citizen Science Ecological Outcome Achieved: Since its inception in the early 1990s, the project Monitoring & Evaluation has protected and restored almost 1060 ha of Box-Ironbark habitat, and planted Summary more than 385,000 seedlings…The gap closure achieved within the district seems Q&A to have substantially benefited the Grey-crowned Babbler… (Society for Ecological Restoration 2020) 12 12 6
9/30/20 Case in Point Introduction Ecological Monitoring Kinds of Monitoring Effective Monitoring Importance of Monitoring Let’s Get Technical Citizen Science Monitoring & Evaluation Summary Q&A 13 13 Let’s Get Technical SPECIE S – a group of living organisms • Environmental Monitoring consisting of similar individuals capable Introduction of exchanging genes or interbreeding. • BACI Ecological Monitoring Species is both plural and singular Kinds of Monitoring • Ecological Succession Effective Monitoring Importance of Monitoring • Edge Effects Let’s Get Technical Citizen Science • Keystone Species Monitoring & Evaluation Summary • Indicator Species Q&A SPECIE – money in the form of a coin • Stochastic Event 14 14 7
9/30/20 Told you it will work … Environmental Monitoring - refers to measurement of abiotic parameters to characterise the quality of the environment (air, water, Introduction soil, temperature, rainfall) and typically associated with impact Ecological Monitoring assessments. Kinds of Monitoring Effective Monitoring BACI - Before-After-Impact-Control design or sampling Importance of Monitoring Let’s Get Technical Citizen Science Monitoring & Evaluation Summary Q&A 15 15 There is nothing permanent except change… Ecological succession • the series of stages by which a group of organisms living Introduction Ecological Monitoring in a community reaches its final stable state or climax Kinds of Monitoring (primary succession) Effective Monitoring • where colonizer plant species grow quickly to provide Importance of Monitoring organic matter, shelter and nutrients to their longer-lived Let’s Get Technical neighbours (primary succession) – Landscape Australia Citizen Science • can be defined as any landscape’s evolution from Monitoring & Evaluation disturbance (secondary succession) – Landscape Acknowledgements Q&A Australia (Costermans 2006) 16 16 8
9/30/20 Ecological Succession Introduction Ecological Monitoring Kinds of Monitoring Effective Monitoring Importance of Monitoring Let’s Get Technical Citizen Science Monitoring & Evaluation Summary (Kirkpatrick 2018) Q&A (Vivian 2018) (Webb and Erskine 2003) 17 17 The whole is greater than the sum of its parts Edge Effects - refer to the changes in population or community Introduction structures that occur at the boundary of two habitats or different Ecological Monitoring landscapes Kinds of Monitoring - the effect of an abrupt transition between two quite different Effective Monitoring adjoining ecological communities on the numbers and kinds of Importance of Monitoring organisms in the marginal habitat – Merriam Webster Let’s Get Technical Citizen Science Monitoring & Evaluation Summary Q&A Bioninja 2020 USDA 2020 18 18 9
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