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b
), and the statistical method used to analyze a count series. The primary
consequence of failing to make the best choices and thereby improve methods
for identifying population change in animal ecology will be a chronic failure to
detect population change. Unfortunately, these errors will often be misinter-
preted as reflecting population stability, lack of treatment effect, or ineffective-
ness of management. Neither the science of animal ecology nor the wild
resources under our surveillance should be expected to bear the consequences
of these errors.
and
Acknowledgments
I am grateful to L. Boitani and T. K. Fuller for the invitation to make a presentation at the
conference in Erice, Sicily, in December 1996. That opportunity provided me with the
impetus to assemble the information and ideas about population monitoring that are pre-
sented in this chapter. S. M. Melvin and S. Droege have also provided important encour-
agement and guidance to me on monitoring issues. The chapter was improved by com-
ments from M. R. Fuller, R. J. Steidl, and an anonymous reviewer.
