Research Product

This discussion defines monitoring as the identification of change. Principal monitoring strategies are defined as historic, mandatory, and fortuitous. Case histories of representative programs differentiating these categories are presented with discussions of their limitations and potential for constructive achievements. Some of the difficulties encountered in the interpretation of data generated by programs monitoring agricultural chemicals are depicted. There is an assessment of future needs in the field of estuarine monitoring and a discussion of some of the factors that are leading to a predictable decline in the importance of field monitoring studies.