Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
interpreted.to.support.models.of.speciic.wildlife.species.or.for.general.assessments.
of.landscape.connectivity..Archival.remote-sensing.data.for.all.northern.parks.are.
also.being.collected.and.used.to.back-cast.some.of.these.measures.(e.g.,.shrub.cover.
change,. productivity. measures,. and. habitat. change). to. assess. historic. trends. back.
to.about.1980..This.work.will.support.the.development.of.thresholds.for.establish-
ing.park.monitoring.programs.and.assessing.and.reporting.trends..As.much.as.pos-
sible,.ground.measurement.monitoring.will.be.designed.to.support.remote-sensing.
measures..For.example,.ground.measures.of.permafrost.depth,.soil.temperature,.soil.
texture,.and.soil.organic.content.can.be.used.to.parameterize.the.active-layer.model.
(Zhang.et.al..2007).used.to.predict.landscape.scale.change.in.active-layer.and.per-
mafrost.conditions.
The. coordinated. monitoring. approach. proposed. through. the. Parks. Canada.
Monitoring.and.Reporting.Program.is.to.develop.a.common.suite.of.ground-based.
and. remotely-sensed. core. measures. in. all. ten. northern. national. parks,. so. that. a.
consistent. set. of. observations. are. made. that. represent. a. wide. range. of. arctic. and.
subarctic.environmental.variability..Along.with.other.monitoring.focused.on.local.
species. and. issues. relevant. to. each. park. (mentioned. previously),. data. from. these.
core.variables.will.make.a.strong.contribution.to.measuring.and.reporting.ecological.
change.across.the.Canadian.North..Also,.by.measuring.similar.ecological.elements.
across.such.a.broad.area,.regional.assessments.of.patterns.and.progress.of.ongoing.
ecological.change.can.be.evaluated.and.will.provide.an.“early-warning.system”.of.
approaching.change.for.park.managers..Finally,.PCA.is.also.working.internationally.
to.coordinate.protected.areas.monitoring.in.the.circumpolar.Arctic,.in.coordination.
with.the.Circumpolar.Biodiversity.Monitoring.Program.(CBMP.2009).
The Role of Effectiveness Monitoring
Effectiveness.monitoring.will.provide.more-speciic.information.on.the.ecological.
outcomes. of. management. interventions. that. may. be. implemented. to. adapt. to. park.
ecological.changes..Effectiveness.monitoring.in.southern.parks.focuses.for.the.most.
part. on. measuring. ecological. improvements. resulting. from. management. activities.
aimed.at.restoring.EI.in.degraded.areas.of.a.park..Northern.parks.are.largely.intact.at.
this.time.and.potential.future.management.interventions.will.need.to.respond.to.situ-
ations.as.they.arise..As.climate.change.plays.out,.however,.management.actions.such.
as. prescribed. ire. to. reduce. shrub. expansion,. species. translocations,. river-mouth.
dredging.to.permit.ish.access,.or.revegetation.of.mass-wasting.scars.on.slopes.with.
accelerated.permafrost.melting.may.need.to.be.undertaken.to.adapt.to.ongoing.eco-
logical.change.and.mitigate.effects.on.park.ecological.integrity..Effectiveness.moni-
toring. will. be. implemented. with. these. projects. to. measure. and. report. the. success.
of.management.investments,.and.to.learn.from.our.experience.as.projects.proceed.
Effectiveness.monitoring.can.also.be.employed.to.evaluate.the.accuracy.of.model.
predictions,.by.using.monitoring.results.to.reine.models.and.provide.more.accurate.
assessments.of.ecological.change.for.subsequent.model.iterations..These.measure-
ments. may. be. a. component. of. condition. monitoring. or. effectiveness. monitoring,.
depending.on.the.model.scale.and.application..For.example,.it.is.well.documented.in.
Alaska.that.tundra.shrubs.are.presently.expanding.at.the.expense.of.herb.and.pros-
trate.shrub-dominated.communities.(Tape.et.al..2006)..So.PCA.may.want.to.monitor.
