Asking & Answering the Right Monitoring Questions (AARMQ)

Objective:

• design and implement a monitoring program assessing ecological systems relative to management actions.

Topics include:

• vegetation, plant populations and plant communities, although applications to habitat monitoring and animal populations are also discussed.

Any organization conducting biological monitoring in a land management context has implied, or explicit, management goals. These goals articulate what the organization wants the land to look like (with respect to specific attributes), or not look like. The purpose of biological monitoring and assessment is the measurement of the land’s condition relative to these goals. The objective of this course is to discuss foundational tools for the design of monitoring programs that assess populations, communities, and ecological systems relative to management actions. The emphasis is on matching management goals to clear management and monitoring objectives; that is, crafting the right monitoring questions for the management context. Specific topics include vegetation, plant populations, communities, habitat monitoring, wildlife populations, and landscapes.

Day 1 of the workshop demonstrates how conceptual modeling can help craft effective monitoring questions from management goals and ecological context.

Days 2 and 3 focus on seven effective design and analysis tools for implementation of sampling designs and analyses of these data. This workshop is meant to help craft effective monitoring programs and is not a workshop in field techniques.

Depart in the mid-afternoon of Day 3.

Know Before Attending:
It is a good idea to be familiar with statistics BEFORE you arrive at the workshop. Its not mandatory. The cadre will help you with statistics, but, obviously, it will slow down learning the concepts of monitoring. Options for brushing up on your statistics knowledge:

• Review our statistics page
• Contact Shelly Witt to borrow a copy of the book "The Cartoon Guide to Statistics" by Larry Gonick.
  • All registered participants will be loaned the book at least 4 months prior to the workshop.
• Pull out your old college statistics book - engage in some self tutoring

Knowing statistics before attending is highly recommended, because, after all, you want to get the most out of your time and money, right?!

Dates: January 28 - 30, 2009

Location: Salt Lake City, Utah (FY09)
FY09 Location to be announced. If interested in hosting at your home unit, contact Dr. David Maddox.

Flyer 2009

Registration Status: OPEN

Tuition: $750 - Lodging and Meals are NOT included.

Agenda & Workshop Info | Related Readings | Local Area Services

Reading: Evaluating Management Success: Using Ecological Models to Ask the Right Monitoring Questions 5.61 MB

Alternative downloading option for the reading assignment:

YouSendIt
If you are a slow connection, there are two options to ensure you download the entire file.
1. YouSendIt has a small download manager applet you can install. If your connection is broken during downloading, it will pick up where it left off rather than starting over again.
2. Mozilla Firefox has the same capacity, and works flawlessly.

Contact:

Dr. David Maddox, Sound Science-LLC, PO Box 9721, Boise, ID 83707
david@sound-science.org
202-255-1124
www.sound-science.org

Cadre Members:

Dr. David Maddox

Dr. Robert Unnasch