1 Development of a rationale for monitoring.- 1.1 Introduction.- 1.2 Definitions.- 1.3 Why monitor?.- 1.4 Design of monitoring strategies.- 1.5 Conclusion.- 2 Scientific requirements of a monitoring programme.- 2.1 Introduction.- 2.2 Purpose.- 2.3 Method.- 2.4 Analysis.- 2.5 Interpretation.- 2.6 Fulfillment.- 2.7 Discussion.- 3 Remote sensing techniques for monitoring land-cover.- 3.1 Introduction to remote sensing.- 3.2 Aerial sensors.- 3.3 Ground survey.- 3.4 Conclusion.- 4 Monitoring plant populations: census as an aid to conservation.- 4.1 Introduction.- 4.2 The need for monitoring plant populations.- 4.3 Methods.- 4.4 Case studies involving monitoring of rare plant populations.- 4.5 Towards more monitoring studies on plant species.- 5 Vegetation monitoring.- 5.1 What is vegetation?.- 5.2 Samples.- 5.3 Location of samples.- 5.4 Measures of abundance of species.- 5.5 Quadrat size.- 5.6 Sampling patterns.- 5.7 Mapping schemes.- 5.8 Comparing two sets of data.- 5.9 Conclusion.- 6 Monitoring butterfly numbers.- 6.1 Introduction.- 6.2 The butterfly monitoring scheme.- 6.3 Case study: Castle Hill National Nature Reserve.- 6.4 Limitations and potential of butterfly monitoring.- 7 Monitoring terrestrial breeding bird populations.- 7.1 Introduction.- 7.2 Methods for monitoring bird populations.- 7.3 Monitoring schemes in the UK and Ireland.- 7.4 Integrated population monitoring.- 7.5 Discussion.- 8 National species distribution surveys.- 8.1 Introduction.- 8.2 Types of surveys.- 8.3 Survey methods.- 8.4 Products of surveys.- 8.5 Interpretation of species distributions.- 8.6 Role of surveys in monitoring.- 9 Monitoring at the county level.- 9.1 Role of County Biological Records Centre.- 9.2 Data.- 9.3 Recording procedures.- 9.4 Technology.- 9.5 Use of the data.- 9.6 Network.-10 Field monitoring: confessions of an addict.- 10.1 Introduction.- 10.2 Field monitoring in theory.- 10.3 The metaphysics of monitoring.- 10.4 Monitoring motives and philosophy.- 10.5 Observation problems.- 10.6 Identification problems.- 10.7 Selecting the criteria.- 10.8 Timing.- 10.9 Samples and reality.- 10.10 Simple factors with complex consequences.- 10.11 To interfere — or not?.- 10.12 Utilizing old surveys.- 10.13 A problem with numbers.- 10.14 Integrated monitoring.- 10.15 Birds and reserve management.- 10.16 Conclusion.- 11 Monitoring overseas: Prespa National Park, Greece.- 11.1 Introduction.- 11.2 Objectives of monitoring.- 11.3 Decisions needed.- 11.4 Recommendations for monitoring.- 11.5 Staffing, costs and administration.- 11.6 Conclusion.- 12 The calculation of index numbers from wildlife monitoring data.- 12.1 Introduction.- 12.2 Index numbers and their properties.- 12.3 Wildlife index numbers in practice.- 12.4 The effect on index numbers of transforming raw abundance data.- 12.5 Conclusions.- 13 Biological monitoring and ecological prediction: from nature reserve management to national state of the environment indicators.- 13.1 Introduction.- 13.2 Choosing the state variables to measure.- 13.3 Biological monitoring at the national scale: towards a State of the Environment index from the World Conservation Strategy.- 13.4 Prediction, monitoring and decision-making.- 14 Synthesis.