Environmental Monitoring Services

Planning is the first step in developing a successful ecological monitoring study. Although most erstwhile monitors acknowledge this fact, they usually do not plan enough. One of the most important, but over looked, aspects of planing is goal definition. Most organizations know they need to monitor, how they are going to do it, and even where the funds are coming from--but they overlook the most basic questions:

1. Why are we monitoring?
2. What kind of changes should anticipate? Why?
3. What else might happen and why?
4. How much change do we want to detect?

These key questions should be addressed before funds are applied for; you will want a budget that actually supports a monitoring program that can provide the kind of information needed. Absolutely, positively, ensure that these questions are addressed before a net ever touches the water; do not begin with the over simplified goal of, "We just want to see what the bugs tell us about water quality." That is, unless of course that is truly the only way you ever want to use the data. Then the next obvious question is "What do you want to know about water quality?"

This is the most important service provided by River Continuum Concepts. We work in planning, sampling, analysis, reporting, and can even coordinate multiple projects for you. But, consulting with River Continuum Concepts at the beginning of your project is the single most important investment you can make for the success of your monitoring program.

River Continuum Concepts views monitoring as an adaptive process; as more data are acquired, the program can be refined and further optimized in terms of cost-benefits. However, much of the scientific details of the program should be worked out by the end of the initial planning phase. Key scientific milestones include:

1. What are the specific hypotheses tested by this monitoring program.
2. What are the probabilities of type-1 and type-2 statistical errors.
3. What is an acceptable amount of change.
4. What are we going to do if we observe an unacceptable amount of change?
5. How long to we intend to monitor--and how often are we going to summarize and adjust the program?

Field work is most enjoyable part of your monitoring project--when the weather is nice. It is for this reason that most of our clients choose to do their own field work. However, when the study design is more complicated and involves the collection of ancillary data to explain variation among biological data, it is best to have one of our invertebrate ecologists help plan the methods of data collection. We can conduct field sampling for you, or we can provide instruction for collection of ancillary data.