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Development of Protocols to Inventory Or Monitor Wildlife, Fish, Or Rare Plants United States Department Development of Protocols of Agriculture Forest Service To Inventory or Monitor Gen. Tech. Report WO-72 Wildlife, Fish, or Rare Plants June 2006 United States Department of Agriculture Development of Protocols Forest Service To Inventory or Monitor Gen. Tech. Report WO-72 Wildlife, Fish, or Rare Plants June 2006 By David Vesely Brenda C. McComb Christina D. Vojta Lowell H. Suring Juraj Halaj Richard S. Holthausen Benjamin Zuckerberg Patricia M. Manley The proper citation for this document is as follows: Vesely, D.; McComb, B.C.; Vojta, C.D.; Suring, L.H.; Halaj, J.; Holthausen, R.S.; Zuckerberg, B.; Manley, P.M. 2006. Development of Protocols To Inventory or Monitor Wildlife, Fish, or Rare Plants. Gen. Tech. Rep. WO-72. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. 100 p. Cover photos. Monitoring wildlife, rare plants, and their habitats is conveyed through three photos: (1) Peromyscus maniculatus, on Pesola scale (photo credit: Dean E. Pearson); (2) western prairie fringed orchid (Platanthera praeclara) (photo credit: Carolyn Hull Sieg); and (3) measuring a ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) log in Idaho (photo credit: Victoria A. Saab). The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, and where applicable, sex, marital status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual orientation, genetic information, political beliefs, reprisal, or because all or part of an individual’s income is derived from any public assistance program. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD). To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20250-9410, or call (800) 795-3272 (voice) or (202) 720-6382 (TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. Acknowledgments We sincerely thank Jeff Beck, Curt Flather, and Michael Schwartz for helping to write portions of this technical guide and Rudy King for providing an extensive review of the statistical principles addressed in the guide. We also thank the following colleagues for reviewing earlier drafts of the technical guide: Jeff Beck, Brad Compton, Margaret Griep, Tim Hardin, Greg Hayward, Kim Mellen, Sylvia Mori, Maile Neel, Rob Pabst, and Fred Samson. Development of Protocols To Inventory or Monitor Wildlife, Fish, or Rare Plants iii iv Development of Protocols To Inventory or Monitor Wildlife, Fish, or Rare Plants Authors David Vesely Richard S. Holthausen Pacific Wildlife Research USDA Forest Service P.O. Box 1061 Terrestrial Wildlife Ecology Unit Corvallis, OR 97330 Forestry Sciences Laboratory 2500 S. Pine Knoll Brenda C. McComb Flagstaff, AZ 86004 Department of Natural Resources Conservation Benjamin Zuckerberg 216 Holdsworth Hall Department of Environmental University of Massachusetts and Forest Biology Amherst, MA 01003 College of Environmental Science and Forestry Christina D. Vojta State University of New York USDA Forest Service 244A Illick Hall Terrestrial Wildlife Ecology Unit 1 Forestry Drive Forestry Sciences Laboratory Syracuse, NY 13210 2500 S. Pine Knoll Patricia M. Manley Flagstaff, AZ 86004 USDA Forest Service Lowell H. Suring Wildlife, Fish, and USDA Forest Service Watershed Research Terrestrial Wildlife Ecology Unit Rosslyn Plaza, Building C Aquatic Sciences Laboratory 1601 N. Kent Street 322 East Front Street, Suite 401 Arlington, VA 22209 Boise, ID 83702 Juraj Halaj Cascadien, Inc. 1903 NW Lantana Drive Corvallis, OR 97330–1016 Development of Protocols To Inventory or Monitor Wildlife, Fish, or Rare Plants v vi Development of Protocols To Inventory or Monitor Wildlife, Fish, or Rare Plants Contents Acknowledgments ......................................................................................iii Authors ...........................................................................................................v Contents ...................................................................................................... vii Chapter 1. Overview .................................................................................1-1 1.0 Overview and Purpose ....................................................................................... 1-1 1.1 Background and Business Needs....................................................................... 1-2 1.2 Key Concepts ..................................................................................................... 1-3 1.3 Roles and Responsibilities ................................................................................. 1-5 1.3.1 National Responsibilities ..................................................................... 1-5 1.3.2 Regional Responsibilities .................................................................... 1-5 1.3.3 Forest and Grassland Responsibilities ................................................. 1-6 1.4 Relationship to Other Federal Inventory and Monitoring Programs ................. 1-6 1.4.1 Forest Service Programs ...................................................................... 1-7 1.4.2 Programs in Other Federal Agencies ................................................... 1-7 1.5 Quality Control and Assurance .......................................................................... 1-7 1.6 Change Management .......................................................................................... 1-8 Chapter 2. Specific Inventory and Monitoring Strategies ..............2-1 2.0 Objective ............................................................................................................ 2-1 2.1 Planning and Design .......................................................................................... 2-2 2.1.1 Species’ Life History and Conceptual Model ...................................... 2-2 2.1.2 Selected Measures of Population and Habitat ..................................... 2-3 2.1.3 Sampling Design ................................................................................. 2-4 2.1.4 Pilot Studies ......................................................................................... 2-5 2.1.5 Prospective Power Analysis ................................................................. 2-6 2.2 Data Collection .................................................................................................. 2-6 2.2.1 Data Collection Methods ..................................................................... 2-6 2.2.2 Personnel Qualifications and Training ................................................. 2-8 2.2.3 Quality Control and Assurance ............................................................ 2-8 2.2.4 Data Forms .......................................................................................... 2-9 2.2.5 Logistics .............................................................................................. 2-9 2.3 Data Storage .....................................................................................................2-10 2.3.1 Data Cleaning Methods .....................................................................2-10 2.3.2 Database Structure .............................................................................2-11 2.3.3 Metadata Requirements .....................................................................2-11 Development of Protocols To Inventory or Monitor Wildlife, Fish, or Rare Plants vii 2.4 Data Analysis ...................................................................................................2-11 2.4.1 Analysis, Synthesis, and Interpretation .............................................2-11 2.4.2 Analysis Tools ...................................................................................2-12 2.5 Reporting ..........................................................................................................2-12 2.5.1 Expected Reports ...............................................................................2-12 2.5.2 Reporting Schedule ...........................................................................2-13 2.6 List of Preparers ...............................................................................................2-13 2.7 Literature Cited ................................................................................................2-13 2.8 Appendixes .......................................................................................................2-13 Chapter 3. Further Considerations in Developing Inventory and Monitoring Protocols ....................................................3-1 3.0 Stating the Objective .......................................................................................... 3-1 3.1 Considerations for Planning and Design ............................................................ 3-2 3.1.1 Conceptual Model ............................................................................... 3-2 3.1.2 Selected Measures of Population and Habitat ..................................... 3-3 3.1.3 Developing a Sampling Design ........................................................... 3-9 3.2 Data Collection: Biological Study Ethics ........................................................3-16 3.3 Data Storage: Metadata Purpose and Standards ..............................................3-17
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