Measuring and monitoring forest biodiversity: The SI/MAB model

Over the past decade, the Smithsonian Institution/Man and the Biosphere Biological Diversity Program (SI/MAB) has developed a biodiversity monitoring protocol and refined it through testing at a number of sites. The protocol has been adopted by SI/MAB colleagues and partners around the world, forming the basis for consistent measuring and monitoring at hundreds of biodiversity monitoring plots, facilitating the transfer of comparable data, and providing the framework for data analysis and dissemination to users. Program staff have trained more than 700 participants in the SI/MAB protocol and in use of BioMon (SI/MAB's computerized data management system) at annual six-week international courses and through on-site two-week courses in more than two dozen countries. Staff have also been instrumental in setting up and maintaining international biodiversity information exchange networks. The primary goals of the program - to gather, analyse, and disseminate information about biodiversity at selected forested sites throughout the world and to foster co-operation among researchers and decision-makers - are being met. The outlook for strengthening established networks and expanding the program into new areas is bright.