A Framework for Designing Ecological Monitoring Programs for Protected Areas: A Case Study of the Galachos del Ebro Nature Reserve (Spain)

Abstract

The assessment of management effectiveness in protected areas, i.e., the evaluation of whether management strategies are actually helping to achieve stated goals, is becoming a priority. In any such evaluation, accurate information concerning the dynamics of the managed system is required—information that is gathered through monitoring. Few protected areas, however, have well-developed monitoring plans, and reserve managers are faced with a shortage of protocols for their design. This paper proposes a methodology, applicable to a wide range of situations, for designing such plans. The process begins with the precise definition of the aims of the monitoring plan, followed by the identification of key ecological processes and management objectives for the area, and finally the selection of a reduced set of indicators. These indicators are represented at three levels of growing complexity, allowing the plan to be followed in a modular fashion and in agreement with available resources.

Appendix: List of indicators selected for the monitoring plan

	LEVEL I		LEVEL II
PROGRAM	Variable	Units	Variable	Units
Meteorology	Mean monthly temp.	°C	T max	°C
	Relative humidity	%	T min	°C
	Accumulated rainfall	mm	Wind speed	m/sec
	Maximum rainfall	mm	Wind direction	°
			Sunshine	hours/month
Hydro-geology	Depth of water table	m	Depth of water table	m
Fluvial dynamics	Mean discharge of Ebro	m3/sec	Floodable area	Ha
	Max. discharge of Ebro	m3/sec	Area flooded per year	Ha
	Frequency of floods	year−1	Sedimentation rate	cm/year
	Maximum flood level	m
	Discharge (irrigation ditches)	m3/sec
	Depth (galachos)	cm
	Number of defense works
	Length of defense works	m
Water quality	Water temperature	°C	Cations Ca, Na, K, Mg,	mg/I
	pH		Anions (Cl, SO4)	mg/I
	Conductivity at 20°C	microS/c	Alkalinity	mg/I
		m		CO3Ca
	Dissolved oxygen	mg/l O2	Hardness Ca	mg/I CaCO3
	Turbidity	FTU	Hardness Mg	mg/I MgCO3
			Nitrites	mg/I NO2
			Nitrates	mg/I NO3
			Total ammonia	mg/I NH4
			Phosphates	mg/I PO4
			Total dissolved solids	mg/I
			Total suspended solids	mg/I
			Organic matter in suspension	mg/I O2
			Dissolved organic material	mg/l O2
			BOD5	mg/I O2
			COD	mg/I O2
			Metals (As, Bo, Cd, Cr, Fe, Hg, Mn, Pb, Zn)	mg/I
			Total coliforms at 37°C	NMP/100 mI
			Pesticides	microg/I
			BMWP’
Species	Richness in birds	N° spp	Species richness	ind/sp
	Bird diversity	Bit	Species diversity	bits/sp
	Species density	Ind / ha	Threatened species
			Reproductive success	chicks/pair
			Population size	n° ind
			Exotic species
			Reproductive success	chicks/pair
			Population size	n° ind
Habitats / ecosystems	Cover of vegetation types	Ha	Richness of understory	n sp
	Coverage in habitats of community interest	Ha	Diversity of understory	bits
	N° of Ha restored	Ha / habitat	Richness of tree layer	n sp
			Diversity of tree layer	bits
			Mortality / sp	ind/sp
			Replacements / sp	ind/sp
			% survival	%
Landscape	Landcover types	Ha	Landcover richness	n
	Lancover change	Ha/year	Landcover diversity	Bit
			Landcover evenness
			Number of patches
			Mean distance among patches	km
Human activities	Land ownership	Ha/category	Crops:
	Urban planning	Ha/category	N°. of farms
	Agricultural area	Ha	Size of farms	Ha
	Mean agric. yield	Tm/ha	Yield per variety	Tm/ha
	Head of stock		Varieties
	Forested area	Ha	Stock:
	Forestry production (wood)	Tm/ha	N°. of farms
	Industrial use	Ha	Size of farms	Ha
	Hunting	ind/sp	Stocking rate	head/ha
	Gravel pits	Ha	Breeds
	Landfills	Ha	Forestry
			N°. exploitations
			Size of exploitations	Ha
			Yield per species	Tm/ha
			Varieties
Recreation	N° visitors	N° ind	Frequency per zone	Ind
	N°. groups	N° groups	Origin of visitors	%
	Size of groups	N° ind/group	Activities performed