376 Monitoring Threatened Species and Ecological Communities
populations, management interventions occurred in an adaptive management
framework, but without rigorous controls or replication. Under these
circumstances, monitoring is integral to the recovery program, alerting managers
to changes in species persistence, providing confidence to act in the absence of
complete knowledge, and informing the adaptive management process through
evaluation of management effectiveness.
Introduction
Threatened species present significant management challenges arising from their
specific habitat requirements, small or volatile populations, and limited
distributions often in small or isolated habitat patches. First, there is little margin
for error in management because ineffective or inadvertently detrimental
interventions are likely to drive the species towards extinction. This may lead to
‘management paralysis’, whereby no action is taken for fear of implementing
counter-productive interventions. Second, testing interventions in a rigorous
experimental framework is often constrained or impossible due to the lack of sites
at which to apply different treatments with adequate replication and controls.
Thus, managers often operate with limited knowledge drawn from unreplicated
and uncontrolled trials. Third, threatened species often reside in areas of very
high species diversity and endemism. Management interventions to protect one
species may have negative outcomes for co-occurring species or communities of
conservation concern. Fourth, threatened species often exist in small and
functionally isolated populations, which can lead to loss of genetic diversity, with
negative impacts on survival, fitness, fecundity and evolutionary potential
(Frankham 1995a, 1995b). A common response is to increase connectivity
through protection or provision of supplementary habitat. However, the lag
between management interventions and increased connectivity may limit
benefits, or increased connectivity may bring additional threats such as invasive
species or competitors. Translocation may provide an alternative way of
maintaining genetic diversity.
These challenges reinforce the importance of effective and timely monitoring
of threatened species, threats and management interventions, even in the absence
of formal experimental design (i.e. replication and controls). Although it may be
appealing for threatened species managers to de-prioritise monitoring in such
circumstances, without monitoring, the effectiveness of management remains
unknown, risking both inefficient allocation of resources and the survival of the
species should the actions prove to be ineffective or counter-productive. This
chapter demonstrates why and how monitoring is integral to overcoming these
challenges for an extremely range-limited and endangered species, the red-finned
blue-eye Scaturiginichthys vermeilipinnis.