| Despite their important roles in biodiversity conservation, large-scale ecological monitoring programs are scarce, in large part due to the difficulty of achieving an effective design under fiscal constraints. Using long-term avian monitoring in the boreal forest of Alberta, Canada as an example, we present a methodology that uses power analysis, statistical modeling, and partial derivatives to identify cost-effective sampling strategies for ecological monitoring programs. Empirical parameter estimates were used in simulations that estimated the power of sampling designs to detect trend in a variety of species’ populations and community metrics. The ability to detect trend with increased sample effort depended on the monitoring target’s... |
