Methodology for designing monitoring protocols and monitoring stations

Designing of the monitoring protocol of reed bed habitat:

In addition to regular monitoring of freshwater  flows and water quality, reed beds as breeding habitat for birds must be monitored.

The monitoring protocol of reed bed habitat is inspired by the protocol “Rézo du rozo” used in French natural reserves of reed beds (Pôle-relais lagunes méditerranéennes, 2014).

The period of field observations is from mid-June to mid-July in order to conciliate the following conditions:

­It must be close enough to the birds breeding season (from March to September for Red-crowned Crane and from March to August for herons) to measure reed bed characteristics between this period,

­It must be at the end of birds breeding season to reduce disturbances as much as possible,

­It must be close to the period of maximal growth of reed (around August),

­It must be during a period of optimal weather conditions for field observations (avoid the period of high precipitation in July-August).

The sampling plan must be equilibrated in order to allow robust statistical tests to compare the different managements of reed beds. In other words, it must have the same number of sampling plots for each condition that will be compared.