General Data Collection and Sampling Design Considerations for Integrated Regional Ecological Assessments

Large-scale data collection is the initial observational phase of integrated regional ecological assessments (IREAs). The data collection methodology determines to a large extent the accuracy and precision of all subsequent analyses, such as pattern recognition (Bourgeron and Jensen, 1994; Bourgeron et al., 1994a; Dale and O’Neill, 1999). The data analysis and interpretative phases of IREAs often tend to be emphasized by scientists over formal data collection procedures (see the case studies in Chapters 30 through 34; for a very formal approach to survey design, see the US-EPA Ecological Monitoring and Assessment Program, O’Neill et al., 1994; Kapner et al., 1995). The lack of formal, consistent data collection protocols for IREAs is unfortunate, because the quality of the characterization of a region and the quality of subsequent interpretations depend on the quality of the data, both in terms of the thoroughness of coverage and the type of information collected.

[1]  Hugh G. Gauch,et al.  Multivariate analysis in community ecology , 1984 .

[2]  Gregory P. Asner,et al.  Ecosystems and Problems of Measurement at Large Spatial Scales , 1998 .

[3]  G. G. WILKINSON,et al.  A Review of Current Issues in the Integration of GIS and Remote Sensing Data , 1996, Int. J. Geogr. Inf. Sci..

[4]  T. Czárán,et al.  Pattern, area and diversity: the importance of spatial scale in species assemblages , 1993 .

[5]  J. Treweek,et al.  Ecological Impact Assessment , 1999 .

[6]  D. Debinski,et al.  Biological Diversity Assessment in Glacier National Park, Montana: I. Sampling Design , 1992 .

[7]  K. R. W. Brewer,et al.  The use of gradient directed transects or gradsects in natural resource surveys , 1985 .

[8]  M. Austin,et al.  New approaches to direct gradient analysis using environmental scalars and statistical curve-fitting procedures , 1984 .

[9]  T. Stohlgren,et al.  Comparison of rangeland vegetation sampling techniques in the Central Grasslands , 1998 .

[10]  Sierra Nevada Ecosystem,et al.  Sierra Nevada Ecosystem Project final report to Congress , 1997 .

[11]  Marie-Josée Fortin,et al.  Edge detection algorithms for two-dimensional ecological data , 1993 .

[12]  M. K. Gillespie,et al.  The ITE Land classification: Providing an environmental stratification of Great Britain , 1996, Environmental monitoring and assessment.

[13]  Hong S. He,et al.  SPATIALLY EXPLICIT AND STOCHASTIC SIMULATION OF FOREST- LANDSCAPE FIRE DISTURBANCE AND SUCCESSION , 1999 .

[14]  R. Green,et al.  Sampling Design and Statistical Methods for Environmental Biologists , 1979 .

[15]  Chris Margules,et al.  Patterns in the distributions of species and the selection of nature reserves: An example from Eucalyptus forests in South-eastern New South Wales , 1989 .

[16]  A. O. Nicholls,et al.  Measurement of the realized qualitative niche: environmental niches of five Eucalyptus species , 1990 .

[17]  David C. Schneider,et al.  Quantitative Ecology: Spatial and Temporal Scaling , 1994 .

[18]  H. Nix,et al.  Biological inventory for conservation evaluation I. Design of a field survey for diurnal, terrestrial birds in southern Australia , 1996 .

[19]  Paul F. Hessburg,et al.  A structural classification for inland northwest forest vegetation. , 1996 .

[20]  P. Bourgeron,et al.  Volume II: Ecosystem management: principles and applications. , 1994 .

[21]  M. Jennings,et al.  Large-area mapping of biodiversity , 1998 .

[22]  N. Lam,et al.  Environmental analysis using integrated GIS and remotely sensed data - Some research needs and priorities , 1991 .

[23]  Robert V. O'Neill,et al.  Tools to Characterize the Environmental Setting , 1999 .

[24]  Juli G. Pausas,et al.  Patterns of tree species richness in relation to environment in southeastern New South Wales, Australia , 1996 .

[25]  Peter T. Wolter,et al.  Improved forest classification in the northern Lake States using multi-temporal Landsat imagery , 1995 .

[26]  Paul E. Bellamy,et al.  The comparison of remotely sensed and ground-based habitat area data using species-area models , 1997 .

[27]  Frank W. Davis,et al.  An information systems approach to the preservation of biological diversity , 1990, Int. J. Geogr. Inf. Sci..

[28]  Michael L. Pace,et al.  Successes, Limitations, and Frontiers in Ecosystem Science , 1998, Springer New York.

[29]  H. Nix,et al.  Designing surveys for microchiropteran bats in complex forest landscapes−a pilot study from south-east Australia , 1996 .

[30]  S. Levin.  The problem of pattern and scale in ecology , 1992 .

[31]  Mark W. Skinner,et al.  Inventory of Rare and Endangered Vascular Plants of California. , 1995 .

[32]  John L. Faundeen,et al.  National Satellite Land Remote Sensing Data Archive , 1997 .

[33]  R. Tibshirani,et al.  Generalized additive models for medical research , 1986, Statistical methods in medical research.

[34]  Ralph T. Clarke,et al.  Land classification for strategic ecological survey , 1996 .

[35]  J. Wiens.  Spatial Scaling in Ecology , 1989 .

[36]  Thomas M. Quigley,et al.  An assessment of ecosystem components in the interior Columbia basin and portions of the Klamath and Great Basins: volume 1. , 1997 .

[37]  Ramakrishna R. Nemani,et al.  Mapping regional forest evapotranspiration and photosynthesis by coupling satellite data with ecosystem simulation , 1989 .

[38]  Thomas J. Stohlgren,et al.  Rapid Assessment of Plant Diversity Patterns: A Methodology for Landscapes , 1997 .

[39]  John A. Bissonette,et al.  Scale-Sensitive Ecological Properties: Historical Context, Current Meaning , 1997 .

[40]  Thomas J. Stohlgren,et al.  Planning Long-Term Vegetation Studies at Landscape Scales , 1995 .

[41]  P. Bourgeron,et al.  Impact of Broad‐ and Fine‐Scale Patterns on Regional Landscape Characterization Using AVHRR‐Derived Land Cover Data , 1999 .

[42]  C. Margules,et al.  Nature Conservation: Cost Effective Biological Surveys and Data Analysis , 1990 .

[43]  B. Clinton.  Executive Order 12906: Coordinating Geographic Data Acquisition and Access: The National Spatial Data Infrastructure , 1994 .

[44]  Thomas M. Powell,et al.  Ecological Time Series , 1994, Springer US.

[45]  F. Davis.  Information Systems for Conservation Research, Policy, and PlanningBetter access to data for scientists, policy makers, and managers , 1995 .

[46]  R. Forman,et al.  Landscape Modification and Changing Ecological Characteristics , 1983 .

[47]  Ross B. Cunningham,et al.  Altitudinal distribution of several eucalypt species in relation to other environmental factors in southern New South Wales , 1983 .

[48]  John A. Bissonette,et al.  Wildlife and Landscape Ecology , 1997, Springer New York.

[49]  H. Mooney,et al.  Disturbance and Ecosystems: Components of Response. , 1984 .

[50]  John R. Leathwick,et al.  Climatic relationships of some New Zealand forest tree species , 1995 .

[51]  T. Allen,et al.  The integration of ecological studies. Comment , 1992 .

[52]  László Orlóci,et al.  Multivariate Analysis in Vegetation Research , 1975 .

[53]  Hong S. He,et al.  INTEGRATION OF GIS DATA AND CLASSIFIED SATELLITE IMAGERY FOR REGIONAL FOREST ASSESSMENT , 1998 .

[54]  P. Bourgeron,et al.  Documentation of the modeling of potential vegetation at three spatial scales using biophysical settings in the Columbia River Basin assessment area , 1995 .

[55]  J. Leathwick.  Are New Zealand's Nothofagus species in equilibrium with their environment? , 1998 .

[56]  Sierra Nevada Ecosystem,et al.  Assessments and scientific basis for management options , 1996 .

[57]  Mike P. Austin,et al.  Vegetation survey design for conservation: Gradsect sampling of forests in North-eastern New South Wales , 1989 .

[58]  Michael F. Goodchild,et al.  Gis and Environmental Modeling: Progress and Research Issues , 1996 .

[59]  Tony W. Norton,et al.  Preliminary evaluation of sampling strategies to estimate the species richness of diurnal, terrestrial birds using Monte Carlo simulation , 1997 .

[60]  Thomas A. Spies,et al.  REGIONAL GRADIENT ANALYSIS AND SPATIAL PATTERN OF WOODY PLANT COMMUNITIES OF OREGON FORESTS , 1998 .

[61]  P. McCullagh,et al.  Generalized Linear Models , 1984 .

[62]  Mark A. White,et al.  A Quantitative Approach to Developing Regional Ecosystem Classifications , 1996 .

[63]  C. Wessman,et al.  Long-term studies of snow-vegetation interactions , 1993 .

[64]  T. Yee,et al.  Generalized additive models in plant ecology , 1991 .

[65]  J. Franklin.  Predicting the distribution of shrub species in southern California from climate and terrain‐derived variables , 1998 .

[66]  John E. Estes,et al.  A remote sensing research agenda for mapping and monitoring biodiversity , 1993 .

[67]  R. G. Wright,et al.  GAP ANALYSIS: A GEOGRAPHIC APPROACH TO PROTECTION OF BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY , 1993 .

[68]  Victor J. Neldner,et al.  Using geographic information systems (GIS) to determine the adequacy of sampling in vegetation surveys , 1995 .

[69]  Robert K. Peet,et al.  Scale dependence of vegetation‐environment correlations: A case study of a North Carolina piedmont woodland , 1993 .

[70]  A. O. Nicholls.  How to make biological surveys go further with generalised linear models , 1989 .

[71]  E. C. Pielou.  Population and Community Ecology. , 1976 .

[72]  Carole Helman,et al.  Inventory Analysis of Southern New South Wales Rainforest Vegetation , 1985 .

[73]  M. Goodchild,et al.  Scale in Remote Sensing and GIS , 2023 .

[74]  Brendan Mackey,et al.  A spatial analysis of the environmental relations of rainforest structural types , 1993 .

[75]  Marie-Josée Fortin,et al.  Effects of quadrat size and data measurement on the detection of boundaries , 1999 .

[76]  Mike P. Austin,et al.  Models for the analysis of species’ response to environmental gradients , 1987 .

[77]  D. W. Mooneyhan,et al.  Of maps and myths , 1994 .

[78]  N. Veitch,et al.  Habitat mapping from satellite imagery and wildlife survey data using a Bayesian modeling procedure in a GIS , 1993 .