Understanding the extent of human influence on the environment and informing regulation and management is a role of ecological monitoring. Although challenging to develop and operate, some degree of integrated monitoring is often necessary, especially at regional scales, to address the complex questions of environmental management and regulation. The concept of integration is well-understood, but its practice across programs and studies can be diverse motivating a deeper examination of the exiting general approaches. We suggest integrated monitoring occurs in three ways: interpretation, analysis, and design. Design can be further subdivided into partial and full integration. In this work we define these types of integration and describe their benefits and challenges using the Oil Sands Monitoring program in northern Alberta as a practical example. From this examination and our experiences, we suggest a one-size-fits-all integrated design is not likely possible within a multi-media regional monitoring program. We further suggest a fully integrated design may always be unachievable and ultimately undesirable, except where scope is limited, monitoring questions are clearly understood, and approaches are widely accepted. Instead, a successful program will include a mixture of the three types of integration among studies depending on the desired and acceptable attributes, including flexibility to address new questions and strength of inference.

中文翻译：

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用于在区域范围内整合监测计划的模型的挑战、好处和局限性

了解人类对环境的影响程度并为监管和管理提供信息是生态监测的作用。尽管开发和运营具有挑战性，但通常需要某种程度的综合监测，尤其是在区域范围内，以解决复杂的环境管理和监管问题。整合的概念很好理解，但它在项目和研究中的实践可以是多种多样的，从而促使对现有的一般方法进行更深入的研究。我们建议以三种方式进行综合监测：解释、分析和设计。设计可以进一步细分为部分集成和完全集成。在这项工作中，我们使用艾伯塔省北部的油砂监测计划作为实际示例来定义这些类型的集成并描述它们的好处和挑战。根据本次检查和我们的经验，我们认为在多媒体区域监测计划中不太可能实现一刀切的集成设计。我们进一步建议，完全集成的设计可能总是无法实现并且最终是不可取的，除非范围有限、监控问题被清楚地理解并且方法被广泛接受。取而代之的是，一个成功的计划将包括三种类型的研究之间的整合，这取决于所需和可接受的属性，包括解决新问题的灵活性和推理强度。我们进一步建议，完全集成的设计可能总是无法实现并且最终是不可取的，除非范围有限、监控问题被清楚地理解并且方法被广泛接受。取而代之的是，一个成功的计划将包括三种类型的研究之间的整合，这取决于所需和可接受的属性，包括解决新问题的灵活性和推理强度。我们进一步建议，完全集成的设计可能总是无法实现并且最终是不可取的，除非范围有限、监控问题被清楚地理解并且方法被广泛接受。取而代之的是，一个成功的计划将包括三种类型的研究之间的整合，这取决于所需和可接受的属性，包括解决新问题的灵活性和推理强度。