Is the Use of "Management Indicator Species" Feasible?

Abstract

Indicators were first used by plant ecologists who worked with soil productivity and agricultural crops (Shantz 1911). In the 1930s, vegetation condition and trend techniques, using plant indicators, were developed for range management. Modified forms of these techniques are still in use today. Recently, indicators were introduced to the wildlife profession as Management Indicator Species (MIS) by the National Forest Management Act (NFMA). NFMA broadens the meaning of indicators beyond that generally used in the biological sciences, and in one category MIS may not be scientifically sound. MIS probably was meant to be a unifying concept to put wildlife on an equal basis with other resources when competing in the planning process, but the lack of a scientific definition in the regulations, a lack of data, and a lack of field experience detracts, at least for now, from its credibility as a planning tool.