Several long-term monitoring projects are looking at the effects of different management practices on ecosystems. The State of the Environment Reports 404 use the number of long-term projects as a biodiversity indicator. The aims of these monitoring projects are varied, but all have the common goal of measuring change over long periods. The International Long Term Ecological Research Network (ILTER) 405 reports on progress of Australia’s sites can be found on the website of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry 406.

Biodiversity monitoring in the rangelands is the subject of a special issue of Austral Ecology 407. The 12 articles highlight issues and research needs for monitoring biodiversity in Australia’s rangelands, with some focusing on birds, ants and plants and others of a more general nature. One article looks at Characteristics of Australia’s Rangelands and Key Design Issues for Monitoring Biodiversity 408. The article, available on the website includes a discussion of the key design issues for monitoring rangeland biodiversity under the broad headings of:

• biodiversity and land use pressures;
• conceiving biodiversity monitoring programs;
• purposes for monitoring; and
• biodiversity indicators and their selection.

A number of papers were commissioned to accompany the report on the Expert Technical Workshop on Biodiversity Monitoring in the Rangelands. These papers are variations on those produced for Austral Ecology and can be found on the Tropical Savannas CRC website 409.

Biodiversity Monitoring in the Rangelands: A way forward 411 identifies guiding principles and research and information gaps. The report, which summarises a workshop held in Alice Springs, is aimed primarily at a regional (scale) audience. There is intention to produce a manual for land managers and users.