Design and Analysis of Long-Term Ecological Monitoring Studies

To provide useful and meaningful information, long-term ecological programs need to implement solid and efficient statistical approaches for collecting and analyzing data. This volume provides rigorous guidance on quantitative issues in monitoring, with contributions from world experts in the field. These experts have extensive experience in teaching fundamental and advanced ideas and methods to natural resource managers, scientists, and students. The chapters present a range of tools and approaches, including detailed coverage of variance component estimation and quantitative selection among alternative designs; spatially balanced sampling; sampling strategies integrating design- and model-based approaches; and advanced analytical approaches such as hierarchical and structural equation modelling. Making these tools more accessible to ecologists and other monitoring practitioners across numerous disciplines, this is a valuable resource for any professional whose work deals with ecological monitoring. Supplementary example software code is available online at www.cambridge.org/9780521191548.

Robert A. Gitzen is a Research Scientist at the School of Natural Resources, University of Missouri, Columbia. He has worked closely with the US National Park Service to develop monitoring studies in the northern Great Plains and has conducted numerous research studies focused on quantitative methods and wildlife conservation.

Joshua J. Millspaugh is Professor and Pauline O'Connor Distinguished Professor of Wildlife Management at the University of Missouri, Columbia. He has written and edited three previous books on quantitative methods in ecology, received state and national awards for teaching, and serves frequently on scientific panels addressing pressing conservation issues.

Andrew B. Cooper is Associate Professor in the School of Resource and Environmental Management, Simon Fraser University, British Columbia. A quantitative ecologist, he has worked extensively with federal, state/provincial and regional fish and wildlife management agencies as well as a number of environmental conservation organizations in the USA and Canada.

Daniel S. Licht is Regional Wildlife Biologist for the Midwest Region of the US National Park Service. Having worked on wildlife issues in many parts of the USA, his experience includes wildlife and habitat management and restoration, inventory and monitoring, research, and program administration.