Monitoring and adaptive management 



It is particularly important to monitor populations in a managed landscape to assess various 

 impacts of land management activities, to evaluate the success of this conservation strategy, and to 

 allow for adaptive management. Within the Rocky Mountains, monitoring is designed in the context of 

 the 2 subprovinces identified in the conservation assessment: 



1 . Northern Columbia Basin - northwestern Montana, including Glacier National Park, the 

 Rocky Mountain Front, and Idaho north of the Salmon River. 



2. Intermountain - southern Idaho north to the and including the Salmon River, southwestern 

 Montana, and all of Wyoming including the Greater Yellowstone area. 



In each area monitoring consists of 1) annual pair and brood monitoring on selected 

 accessible, consistently used breeding streams streams; and 2) rotational sampling on all other breeding 

 streams (Skalski 1995). Monitoring will document pair abundance, trend, and productivity. A 

 monitoring protocol is included in Appendix E. 



A monitoring program should also be developed to address proposed management activities 

 that could potentially negatively or positively impact harlequin duck abundance and productivity. 

 Monitoring should be of sufficient duration to evaluate long term or chronic affects. This should 

 include collection of baseline data as well as project implementation, habitat response, and wildlife 

 response monitoring. This monitoring information is imperative for evaluation of management 

 activities and implementation of adaptive management. 



Copies of all inventory and monitoring data should be deposited at the state or Natural 

 Heritage Program. Data will be summarized in an annual report by the Rocky Mountain Harlequin 

 Duck working group which will include at least one member from each of the involved states. 



Research Needs 



Many basic questions about harlequin duck ecology remain to be answered. Answers to the following 

 research questions are important for prioritizing and developing appropriate management techniques: 



What are the critical habitat components limiting harlequin duck breeding and wintering populations? 



Harlequin ducks use a wide variety of habitats during the breeding season, from old growth forest to 

 tundra. Habitats used and not used over a wide range of breeding areas should be compiled to identify 

 common habitat components in order to better define habitat requirements. Effects of altering both 

 breeding and wintering habitat should be documented as management activities occur and possibilities for 

 mitigation and habitat restoration investigated. 



How and why do productivity and survival change over time and among areas, and what are the relative 

 impacts of these changes on populations? 



Long term studies to are needed to determine demographic parameters necessary for understanding and 

 modelling population dynamics. These include: productivity, age-related survival, recruitment, age(s) at 

 first breeding and/or first successful breeding, age(s) of last breeding, life expectancy and causes and 

 timing (seasonal and age-related) of mortality. 



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