cover

Acknowledgments

Preface

Chapter 1 Introduction

Some of the ecological values and uses of long-term datasets

Time until expression

Use in simulation modelling

Tests of ecological theory

Surprises

Poor record of long-term ecological monitoring

Why we wrote this book

References

Chapter 2 Why monitoring fails

Characteristics of ineffective monitoring programs

Passive, mindless and lacking questions

Poor experimental design

Snowed by a blizzard of ecological details

Squabbles about what to monitor – ‘It’s not monitoring without the mayflies’

Assumption that ‘one-size-fits-all’

Big machines that go ‘bing’

Disengagement

Poor data management

Breaches of data integrity

Other factors contributing to ineffective monitoring programs

Lack of funding – grant myopia

The loss of a champion

Out of nowhere

Excessive bureaucracy

Summary

References

Chapter 3 What makes effective long-term monitoring?

Good questions and evolving questions

The use of a conceptual model

Selection of appropriate entities to measure

Good design

Well-developed partnerships

Strong and dedicated leadership

Ongoing funding

Frequent use of data

Scientific productivity

Maintenance of data integrity and calibration of field techniques

Little things matter a lot! Some ‘tricks of the trade’

Field transport

Field staff

Access to field sites

Time in the field

The Adaptive Monitoring framework

A hypothetical example of how the Adaptive Monitoring framework works

Adaptive Monitoring is a general and not a prescriptive framework

Increased future role for Adaptive Monitoring

Summary

References

Chapter 4 The problematic, the effective and the ugly – some case studies

The problematic

PPBio Australasia

The Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Program (ABMP)

EMAP

NEON/TERN

The effective

Rothamsted

Moreton Bay Waterways and Catchment Partnership

The Hubbard Brook Ecosystem Study

The Central Highlands of Victoria, south-eastern Australia

The ugly

Summary

References

Chapter 5 The upshot – our general conclusions

Changes in culture needed to facilitate monitoring

The academic culture and rewards systems

Structure of organisations

Intellectual property issues

Funding

Societal culture

Good things that can come from non-question based monitoring

The next big challenge – integrating different kinds of monitoring

Approaches to integrate data from question-driven monitoring and mandated monitoring

References