Suggestions for planning a migration-monitoring network based on the experience of establishing and operating the maps program
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Based on the experience of creating and implementing the Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship (MAPS) program, I suggest that, to be successful, a migration-monitoring network must: (1) provide strong justification for the data it proposes to collect; (2) provide direct links between those monitoring data and both research and management goals; (3) provide critical information useful at both small (local) and large (regional) spatial scales; (4) utilize standardized protocols for all aspects of data collection; (5) provide electronic data verification programs to be used by cooperators; (6) utilize state-of-the-art analytical models for making inferences; (7) have a central repository for all data and an organization responsible for timely analysis of data and publication of results; (8) provide frequent and substantive feedback and results to its cooperators; (9) undergo peer review after an appropriate pilot period; and (10) adequately budget for program development, data management and analysis, publication of results, and outreach. I discuss how MAPS has achieved, or attempted to achieve, each of these suggested requirements.