244 Monitoring Threatened Species and Ecological Communities
(5) establishing reporting procedures. AWC is currently identifying indicators and
monitoring protocols using these steps across the range of ecological systems that
occur on AWC properties including rainforests, woodlands, savannas and deserts.
Here, each of these steps is discussed in more detail.
Defining what to report on
Ecological, environmental, cultural and social attributes are all potential
candidates for monitoring if they appropriately represent the purpose of the
organisation. For example, the US National Parks Service’s Vital Signs Monitoring
includes attributes that represent air and climate, geology and soils, water,
biological integrity, human use, and ecosystem pattern and process (Fancy et al.
2009). To meet AWC’s mission, its monitoring program aims to report on the
status and trend of species, their habitats and the key threats to these species.
Developing conceptual models
Conceptual models are visual or narrative summaries that describe the important
components of the ecological systems and the interactions among them (Fancy et
al. 2009; Lindenmayer and Likens 2010). Building a conceptual model helps ensure
that relevant conservation assets, major threats to those assets, and their
interactions, have been considered in the design of a monitoring program. In
addition, conceptual models are helpful for communicating the overall design of a
monitoring program to managers and other stakeholders.
Fig. 18.3. A conceptual model of the interactions between components of biodiversity vulnerable to decline
and threats in northern savannas.