T O P I C 7 – E N V I R O N M E N TA L M O N I T O R I N G
INTERACTIONS IN ECOSYSTEMS
MONITORING
• Ecosystem Monitoring• Check the condition of an environment by comparing
current information with previous information
• Most famous example?• CO2
MONITORING CONT…
• What do we monitor?• Physical • Direct physical changes of the area (ex: using satellites)
• Environmental• Changes in climate, temperature, weather
• Chemical • Quality of soil, air, water
• Biological • Changes in organisms, populations
MONITORING CONT…
• When do we monitor?• After major disturbances (volcano erupts, earthquake,
etc…)• Before and after a major project is planned (foresting) • Sensitive or susceptible areas
• Looking for the safe balance between human and the needs of other organisms
MONITORING CONT …
• Indicator species• Species that help indicate the overall health of an
ecosystem/environment
• Amphibians are great indicators• Why?
• Very susceptible to changes in their environment and it can lead to deformation or death• Lots of deformation and/or death = problem
MONITORING CONT …
• Global Monitoring • A global task force that monitors amphibian populations
around the world • They compile information and determine how populations
are globally • Declining?• Growing?• Remaining
the Same?
Thanks!Yay
Thanks!
BASELINE DATA
• In order to determine environment impact we need to know what it was like before • This is known as baseline data
• Permanent Plots is the answer!• Plots of landed, specifically chosen by biologists to
monitor and collect baseline data
BASELINE DATA CONT…
• How else do they keep track of …• … animals for examples?• … birds for example?
• Tagging animals • Migration patterns• Weight, Height, Size• General health• Etc …
Tracking Hammerhead Sharks
BASELINE DATA …
• The baseline data is also useful for making predictions!• If I drain this wetland to build a mall … what is the
predicted impact?
• When all of this information is compiled into a report and distributed the report is known as an Environmental Impact Assessment
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