Planning Monitoring Programmes
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Dr Jenny MantScience and Technical Manager
www.therrc.co.uk
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• Ecosystem restoration is a fast growing¹, yet evidence-based assessments are limited
• Still only ~18% of completed projects have some form of monitoring²
• Essential step to:– Develop scientific understanding– Improve best practice in the field– Adaptive management– Meet legal requirements (e.g. WFD, EU Directives)
Sources: ¹UN Environment Programme²RRC’s National River Restoration Inventory (NRRI) – April 2015
Monitoring ecological restoration
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Constraints
• Little money for monitoring and assessment of river restoration projects
• Needed a cost effective approach to increase understanding of the effectiveness of different river restoration approaches.
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Water low in pollution
Full of native wildlife
Natural structure and connectivity
Sufficient water flow
Rivers are complex and dynamic so need clear
integrated objectives and clear foci
But………..
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• SMART project objectives provides framework of monitoring
• Helps define ‘success’ and identify what needs monitoring
• Reduces risk of not being able to show what is happening
• Also helps you to identify what baseline data to collect and when
So…….
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Specific • Set tangible, detailed and well defined targets which can be evaluated by specific monitoring methods.
Measurable• What is feasible related to quantity, quality,
equipment, expertise and time.
Achievable• Determined from a review of evidence of success on
other, similar sites.
Realistic• Consider available resources (money, people, time)
and factor in longer-term post-project management
Time-bound• Set deadlines for actions, but allow some flexibility.
Timing is crucial both for works and monitoring.
The SMART approach
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http://www.therrc.co.uk/rrc_pragmo.php
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Objective
Aim: Increase salmon spawning and egg survival by introducing gravels and narrowing the river to increase flow velocity variability.
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http://www.wiser.eu/results/conceptual-models/
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Setting objectives – stage 1
Determine the overall project aim.
For example: • Restore floodplain dynamics by reconnecting to the river
This is what you wish to achieve, but does not define how to do it or measure success.
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Setting objectives – stage 2
Aim : Restore floodplain dynamics by reconnecting the riverSo specific targets:• Cut new sinuous course at a new bed level to encourage
more natural floodplain connectivity Establish floodplain vegetation by planting
• Lessen flood risk to properties
Now identify your key aim(s) and specific targets
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Example
SMART objectives: Remove the weir structure by August 20XX and complete channel narrowing works within one
month Reduce the channel width by 30% for 60m upstream of the weir using locally-sourced
tethered wood Increase the total number of fish (abundance) passing through the reach in November Increase total number of Brown Trout spawning on upstream gravels within two seasons
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Then set your monitoring programme
• Why – do the project? What are the objectives/specific targets that will be monitored? (e.g. increase no of riffles and clean gravel habitat by 80% over 2km of river).
• What – are you trying to observe? (monitor increased habitat diversity/ change in macro-invertebrate assemblages).• How – are you going to monitoring? What techniques will
used to collect data and what assessment methods are you using? (e.g. habitat mapping, 3 min macro-invertebrate kick-sampling).
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Planning you monitoring cont…• Data – Do you have access to any
pre-project/baseline data? If not, can this be collected? If not ask yourself what your data collection will show.
• When will data be collected? (month/season, duration of monitoring, sampling repeats)? • Who is responsible for monitoring and will all
data be comparable?
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The RRC support tool
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The check list• Have you set SMART project objectives?• Can these be measured and thereby
monitored?• Have you checked what base line data
there is… can it be replicated?• Will your monitoring tell you if you have
achieved your objectives and targets?