Designing and Redesigning Environmental Monitoring Programs from an Ecosystem Perspective

Abstract

The expectations of environmental monitoring are changing. In the past, the investment in environmental monitoring was focused on the economic interests of society. Today, there is an increasing emphasis on investing in environmental monitoring to provide information about the state of ecosystems and their long-term sustainability. This shift is significant, and new approaches to environmental monitoring are needed which address these new concerns. The nature of the changes this shift entails are described. At the center of this change is the question of how to determine what information should be obtained to meet future requirements. The need for developing methods which link different types of data is outlined. The issue of the transition to a monitoring system which links data sources, models, and forecasting in the ecosystem framework is addressed. This paper describes the need to change aspects of our data collection programs, the focusing of data collection on the questions and problems that need to be addressed in the future, and the risks associated with shifting towards collecting data to meet future needs.