HABITAT MONITORING
Researchers in the Life Sciences are becoming increasingly
concerned about the potential impacts of human presence in
monitoring plants and animals in field conditions. At best it
is possible that chronic human disturbance may distort results
by changing behavioral patterns or distributions, while
at worst anthropogenic disturbance can seriously reduce or
even destroy sensitive populations by increasing stress, reducing
breeding success, increasing predation, or causing a
shift to unsuitable habitats. While the effects of disturbance
are usually immediately obvious in animals, plant populations
are sensitive to trampling by even well-intended researchers,
introduction of exotic elements through frequent
visitation, and changes in local drainage patterns through
path formation