We designed this book to offer a comprehensive overview of the monitoring process, from start to finish. Although there are books that deal with sampling design and the quantitative analysis of population data, there are few that provide practical advice covering the entire evolution of a monitoring plan from incorporating stakeholder input to data collection to data management and analysis to reporting. This book strives to present an overview of this process. We also acknowledge that any such effort tends to reflect the interests and expertise of the authors, and as such, there is a distinct emphasis on monitoring vertebrate populations and upland habitats. Although many of our examples tend to focus on bird populations and forested habitats, we have made an attempt to cover other taxa and habitat types as well, and many of the recommendations and suggestions that we present are applicable to a diversity of monitoring programs.

This book was written to fill a practical need and also to embrace a set of values that we hold dear. We wanted a book that could be used in a classroom because we feel that students in natural resources programs need to know how to design a monitoring program when they enter the workforce. We also realize that many former students now in the workforce did not have that training and may find this book of value to them.

By the end of this section, you will be able to do the following:

Describe the important difference between the life cycle of amphibians and the life cycles of other vertebrates
Distinguish between the characteristics of Urodela, Anura, and Apoda
Describe the evolutionary history of amphibians

By the end of this section, you will be able to do the following:

Describe the evolutionary history of birds
Describe the derived characteristics in birds that facilitate flight

By the end of this section, you will be able to do the following:

Describe the distinguishing characteristics of chordates
Identify the derived characters of craniates that sets them apart from other chordates
Describe the developmental fate of the notochord in vertebrates

By the end of this section, you will be able to do the following:

Describe the difference between jawless and jawed fishes
Discuss the distinguishing features of sharks and rays compared to other modern fishes

By the end of this section, you will be able to do the following:

Name and describe the distinguishing features of the three main groups of mammals
Describe the likely line of evolutionary descent that produced mammals
List some derived features that may have arisen in response to mammals’ need for constant, high-level metabolism
Identify the major clades of eutherian mammals

By the end of this section, you will be able to do the following:

Describe the main characteristics of amniotes
Explain the difference between anapsids, synapsids, and diapsids, and give an example of each
Identify the characteristics of reptiles
Discuss the evolution of reptiles

By the end of this section, you will be able to do the following:

Describe the derived features that distinguish primates from other animals
Describe the defining features of the major groups of primates
Identify the major hominin precursors to modern humans
Explain why scientists are having difficulty determining the true lines of descent in hominids

Biology is designed for multi-semester biology courses for science majors. It is grounded on an evolutionary basis and includes exciting features that highlight careers in the biological sciences and everyday applications of the concepts at hand. To meet the needs of today’s instructors and students, some content has been strategically condensed while maintaining the overall scope and coverage of traditional texts for this course. Instructors can customize the book, adapting it to the approach that works best in their classroom. Biology also includes an innovative art program that incorporates critical thinking and clicker questions to help students understand—and apply—key concepts.