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Abstract:
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Ecological monitoring programs are often focused at a local scale, but management decisions tend to be made at the regional and national levels. This is challenging, as local scale data often is not appropriate to answer large scale questions as the number of local sites is prohibitive. The Integrated Waterbird Management and Monitoring (IWMM) program attempts to connect bird count data with habitat and management actions. As part of starting a new program, the IWMM monitoring sites were often based on who wants to participate rather than looking at the spatial distribution of local sites which would provide the spatial context to inform larger scale analyses. The ability of this program to provide meaningful regional and flyway level applications depends on the ability to grow the program in a spatially strategic way. First, I will focus on the statistical challenges with using local scale data for larger scale management issues and questions using IWMM as an example. Second, I will provide an example of how IWMM may benefit from a strategic growth plan to fill in spatial gaps as the program grows.
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