Monitoring

Monitoring is a process in which data are collected consistently from the same location over time. Data can be collected hourly, daily, weekly, etc. The type of monitoring and the amount of time spent depends on the information that a person is trying to obtain. Because we know very little about the movement of wildlife from month-to-month within our state, monthly reporting is important for a statewide analysis.

Monitoring can be approached at different levels:

Beginning

Go to an area and record the wildlife that you observe.

You can do this daily, weekly, or monthly.

The sites can be different.

Spend a minimum of 3 minutes at each site.

Select stations within each site and average the number of individuals observed.

Try to identify the habitat for each site in a coarse scale (greater than the size of a football field**). For example, an entire neighborhood.

Try to sample the sites more than once per year.

Once you have a basic inventory, you may want to know if the population is increasing or decreasing or if the species composition is changing. Monitoring would need to occur over a long period of time and consistently at the same location and at the same time period for the same length of time.

**See Site Selection for a review.

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