CONSERVATION MONITORING IN FRESHWATER HABITATS: A PRACTICAL GUIDE AND CASE STUDIES

As in the terrestrial environment, most data collection from freshwater habitats to date falls into the survey, surveillance or research categories. The critical difference between these exercises and a monitoring project is that a monitoring project will clearly identify when we need to make a management response. A Model for Conservation Management and Monitoring Monitoring (as defined by Hellawell) is essentially a tool of practical conservation management, and Fig. 1.1 shows a simple, but effective, model for nature conser- tion management and monitoring. The need for clear decision-making is implicit in this model. First we must decide what would represent a favourable state for the key habitat or species, and then we must decide when to intervene if the state is (or becomes) unfavourable. A third, often overlooked, but equally important, decision concerns when we would consider the habitat or species to have recovered; this is unlikely to be the same point that we became concerned about it. This decision not only has resource imp- cations, it can also have major implications for other habitats and species (prey species are an obvious example). All of these decisions are essential to the devel- ment of an efficient and effective monitoring project.

The predicted changes to global weather patterns and increases in the human population will put unprecedented pressure on European freshwater habitats and the species that depend on them.  Our success in conserving the ecological value of these habitats will depend greatly on carefully planned conservation management integrated with efficient and reliable monitoring.   

Conservation Monitoring in Freshwater Habitats focuses on the need to develop clear, site-specific, conservation management goals; something rarely considered in previous publications on freshwater monitoring. The early chapters explore the use of biological indicators for monitoring and provide practical guidance for developing and implementing efficient and reliable monitoring projects. The remainder of the book is dedicated to a series of carefully selected case studies illustrating best practice in both decision-making and application across a range of habitats and species.

This timely book will provide a valuable reference for students and researchers in biological and environmental sciences, and for practitioners working in government departments, conservation organisations and ecological consultancies. It will be an essential resource for anyone working towards fulfilling the requirements of both the Water Framework Directive and the EC Habitats Directive.