Monitoring of Salmon Ecoystems

Monitoring salmon ecosystem condition requires simultaneous consideration of multiple factors.  The ecological condition of watersheds can be determined using Decision Support Models (DSMs).  DSMs are being increasingly used to assess the status and trend of ecosystems in a transparent and consistent manner and provide for a consistent interpretation of data.  Status is a measure or indicator of the condition of the unit of interest at a particular time.  Trend is a measure of the change in condition over time, whether it be for a given population or for a collection of populations.  Status and trend are evaluated in very different ways.

Coarse scale monitoring is represented by metrics obtained from remote sensing. This represents the greatest amount of reproducible information for the lowest time and economic investment. Remote sensing allows a landscape understanding of watershed processes as well as a preliminary understanding of the river continuum and watershed dynamics before any field teams are deployed or if there has been no previous research in a basin. Furthermore, priority areas of study and conservation interest, such as high channel complexity, can be identified. Finally, remote sensing allows up-slope watershed processes to be addressed, for example, in identifying upstream wood sources.