Recovery Plan for the Northern Spotted Owl - DRAFT

III. --C.6. Monitoring and ResearchThe primary objectives of the monitoring and research program are to determinewhether implementation of the plan is on track, determine if implementationis producing expected effects, improve the plan over time, and, ultimately,determine when it is time to begin delisting procedures. Monitoring andresearch are intended to support the objective of this recovery plan, to providestabilization and recovery of the northern spotted owl population with thelowest possible economic and social costs. The plan incorporates the considerabledata available on northern spotted owls, one of the best researched owlsin the world (see section II.A). These data give the Recovery Team reasonableassurance that the plan will succeed in its objective of recovering northernspotted owls. However, the Recovery Team is equally certain there is considerableroom for refining and improving the plan and knowledge of owls. Forexample, the monitoring and research program may allow refinement ofrecommendations on types and amounts of dispersal habitat. Ongoing researchprograms which focus on ecological relationships and populationdynamics of owls will provide considerable new information in the next severalyears. In addition, ongoing management will create a landscape different fromthe one in which owls have been observed to date, which will expand knowledgeof owl ecology in a variety of habitat settings. For these reasons, theRecovery Team expects the monitoring and research program will provideinformation that can be used to improve the recovery plan over -time. Improvementsmay allow increased security of the owl population and reduction of theeconomic cost of recovery. In addition, the monitoring and research programwill provide information needed to determine when delisting of owl populationswill be appropriate.Significant monitoring and research efforts directed at northern spotted owlshave been in place for many years. These are described in Thomas et al.(1990) and USDA (1988). The ideas and recommendations presented in thissection of the recovery plan repeat some aspects of those ongoing programsand build on others. It was assumed that much of what is recommended canbe implemented using existing organizational structures. However, someadditional structure to provide overall coordination will be necessary for therecovery plan (see section III.C.5).Functions of the Monitoring and Research ProgramTo be effective, the monitoring and research program must be designed carefullyto answer specific questions about owls and their responses to landscapescreated by management and natural events. The program can be organizedinto two basic categories: 1) information needed to consider delisting of thespecies; and 2) information needed for adaptive management under the recoveryplan. While there is some overlap between these categories, they serve as auseful framework for discussing monitoring and research efforts.Adaptive ManagementThe objective of the recovery plan is delisting of the northern spotted owlthroughout its range. However, the decision to delist may be years or decades201