ABSTRACT
This chapter reports on the general framework for ecosystem integrity monitoring in Canadian national parks with emphasis on the choice of a suite of suitable measures from ecosystem science. Monitoring measures are generally designed to be able to provide information to understand, detect changes and perhaps manage or control a system. The core of the system will be an integrated approach that the people call ecosystem integrity monitoring, an approach which aims to understand changes at the ecosystem level. Key considerations in designing a monitoring program for ecosystem integrity include: Basic deficiencies exist in ecosystem science, Catastrophe and surprise characterize most ecosystems, Stresses on ecosystems operate differently at various spatial and temporal scales, A range of related social factors also must be monitored and Measures must be customized for specific ecosystems. Most of the current monitoring literature is devoted to threat-specific monitoring, such as the impact on ecosystems of heavy metals, ozone or human sewage.
