Deciding on appropriate scales – using the Surveillance Hierarchy

Once an evidence need has been identified, a key design question is the scale at which surveillance or research should be deployed. For example, is a simple, well-evidenced correlation between a driver and a pressure on a component of biodiversity required?  If so a research project may be sufficient.  Are there uncertainties or complexities over the relative impacts of one or more drivers, or a need to establish the relative importance of any relationship over different spatial and temporal scales?  If so a surveillance scheme may be necessary.

 

The Surveillance Hierarchy  is a first version of one of the decision tools in the surveillance strategy.  It was produced as a response to the gap analysis that was conducted at the Vegetation Surveillance Workshop.  The hierarchy helps those who are commissioning or designing a surveillance scheme to identify the appropriate scale for surveillance. This paper will be updated according to user feedback.