Design and Implementation of Monitoring Studies to Evaluate the Success of Ecological Restoration on Wildlife

Restoration projects are often developed with little consideration for understanding their effects on wildlife. We contend, however, that monitoring treatment effects on wildlife should be an integral component of the design and execution of any management activity, including restoration. Thus, we provide a conceptual framework for the design and implementation of monitoring studies to understand the effects of restoration on wildlife. Our underlying premise is that effective monitoring hinges on an appropriate study design for unbiased and precise estimates of the response variables. We advocate using measures of population dynamics for response variables given that they provide the most direct measures of wildlife status and trends. The species to be monitored should be those IUSDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, 2500 S. Pine Knoll Dr., Flagstaff, AZ 86001, U.S.A. 2Address correspondence to W. M. Block, Rocky Mountain Research Station, 2500 S. Pine Knoll Dr., Flagstaff, AZ 86001, U.S.A., email wblock8fs.fed.us 3Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA. 4Department of Fishery and Wildlife, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, U.S.A.