King Alison J, Gawne Ben, Beesley Leah, Koehn John D, Nielsen Daryl L, Price Amina
Research Institute for Environment and Livelihoods, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, NT, 0909, Australia,
Environ Manage. 2015 May;55(5):991-1005. doi: 10.1007/s00267-015-0456-6. Epub 2015 Apr 3.
Environmental flows are now an important restoration technique in flow-degraded rivers, and with the increasing public scrutiny of their effectiveness and value, the importance of undertaking scientifically robust monitoring is now even more critical. Many existing environmental flow monitoring programs have poorly defined objectives, nonjustified indicator choices, weak experimental designs, poor statistical strength, and often focus on outcomes from a single event. These negative attributes make them difficult to learn from. We provide practical recommendations that aim to improve the performance, scientific robustness, and defensibility of environmental flow monitoring programs. We draw on the literature and knowledge gained from working with stakeholders and managers to design, implement, and monitor a range of environmental flow types. We recommend that (1) environmental flow monitoring programs should be implemented within an adaptive management framework; (2) objectives of environmental flow programs should be well defined, attainable, and based on an agreed conceptual understanding of the system; (3) program and intervention targets should be attainable, measurable, and inform program objectives; (4) intervention monitoring programs should improve our understanding of flow-ecological responses and related conceptual models; (5) indicator selection should be based on conceptual models, objectives, and prioritization approaches; (6) appropriate monitoring designs and statistical tools should be used to measure and determine ecological response; (7) responses should be measured within timeframes that are relevant to the indicator(s); (8) watering events should be treated as replicates of a larger experiment; (9) environmental flow outcomes should be reported using a standard suite of metadata. Incorporating these attributes into future monitoring programs should ensure their outcomes are transferable and measured with high scientific credibility.
环境流量现已成为河流流量退化地区一项重要的恢复技术，随着公众对其有效性和价值的审查日益增加，开展科学严谨的监测变得愈发关键。许多现有的环境流量监测项目目标定义不明确、指标选择不合理、实验设计薄弱、统计力度不足，且往往侧重于单一事件的结果。这些负面特征使得从中吸取经验教训变得困难。我们提供了切实可行的建议，旨在提高环境流量监测项目的性能、科学严谨性和可辩护性。我们借鉴了相关文献以及与利益相关者和管理者合作设计、实施和监测一系列环境流量类型所获得的知识。我们建议：（1）环境流量监测项目应在适应性管理框架内实施；（2）环境流量项目的目标应明确、可实现，并基于对系统的一致概念理解；（3）项目和干预目标应可实现、可衡量，并为项目目标提供信息；（4）干预监测项目应增进我们对流量 - 生态响应及相关概念模型的理解；（5）指标选择应基于概念模型、目标和优先排序方法；（6）应使用适当的监测设计和统计工具来测量和确定生态响应；（7）应在与指标相关的时间范围内测量响应；（8）浇水事件应被视为一个更大实验的重复；（9）应使用一套标准的元数据来报告环境流量结果。将这些属性纳入未来的监测项目应确保其结果具有可转移性，并以高度的科学可信度进行测量。
