Department of Fish and Game

Wildlife Action Plan

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Wildlife Action Plan
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WAP - Monitoring

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Natural communities, ecosystems, species population dynamics, and the effects of stressors on the environment are inherently complex. Wildlife and resource managers often are called upon to implement conservation strategies or actions based upon limited scientific information and with considerable uncertainties. Adaptive management is a key element of implementing effective conservation programs. Adaptive management combines data from monitoring species and natural systems with new information from management and targeted studies to continually assess the effectiveness, adjust, and improve conservation actions.

Some conservation actions recommended in this Wildlife Action Plan may be assessed adequately simply by monitoring a few environmental variables. At the other extreme, a regional multispecies conservation effort requires a major long-term comprehensive monitoring program. The steps and considerations to design a monitoring program in an adaptive management context are summarized below. This information is a guide to design a program to measure the success of the conservation actions of this wildlife plan and will be useful to consider whether developing a major regional conservation plan or a very limited conservation project.