Validation
Monitoring Defined
Although there
is not a universal definition that all agencies and government entities use, the central
theme of validation monitoring is its examination of cause and effect relationships that
exist between management policies and conservation actions. Listed below are definitions
employed in some of the more prevalent government entities with conservation plans in the
Northwest.
NWFP definition: Validation monitoring - determines if a cause and effect
relationship exists between management activities and the indicators or resource being
managed. Among the key set of assumptions that need to be validated are the relationships
between habitat and populations.
DNR definition: To evaluate cause-and-effect relationships between
habitat conditions resulting from implementation of the conservation strategies and the
animal populations these strategies are intended to benefit (validation monitoring).
WA State Plan definition: Validation - research and evaluations to examine key
assumptions associated with conservation actions, especially to learn more about
cause-and-effect relationships.
