The following is a summary of research and monitoring needs at a statewide scale that were identified as priorities during Regional Technical Workshops, from scientific literature review, and in discussions with natural resource professionals. Because research and monitoring efforts required to fulfill these needs will address multiple threats, issues, landscape features and species, they have the potential for the widest influence on wildlife conservation statewide.

• Monitor status and trends of the priority threats in the State and region at multiple scales and use the data to evaluate conservation actions
  
  
• Develop quantitative linkages between wildlife and primary threats
  
  
• Improve classification systems as needed to ensure that they reflect the current state of knowledge (including MNFI's Natural Communities and aquatic systems such as stream/river, lake and wetland)
  
  
• Resolve problems with landscape feature spatial data, so that spatial extent can be sufficiently determined for status and trend assessments
  
  
• Develop criteria for identifying high quality representative occurrences of landscape features
  
  
• Conduct Inventories to ground-truth and refine spatial mapping of landscape features and high quality representative occurrences and to collect baseline data
  
  
• Periodically map the spatial extent of landscape features and assess all occurrences and high quality occurrences to determine loss or gain (number of occurrences and/or acreage)
  
  
• Monitor high quality representatives of landscape features to assess whether ecological integrity is being maintained
  
  
• Develop explicit measurable goals for landscape features and SGCN
  
  
• Develop science-based indicators and benchmarks for measuring the condition of each landscape feature
  
  
• Complete research to determine the historic condition of landscape features and natural communities (including natural ranges of variation)
  
  
• Monitor indicators of landscape feature condition over time to assess trends and evaluate conservation actions
  
  
• Inventory community composition across landscape features to develop baseline data
  
  
• Monitor changes in community composition across landscape features
  
  
• Complete a statewide baseline assessment of wildlife distribution and abundance
  
  
• Identify species assemblages associated with specific landscape features and specific feature components
  
  
• Assess species status and trends using MNFI's Biotics database, DNR Fisheries status and trends databases, and other species-assemblage monitoring data
  
  
• Identify ways to collect, store and share information on the SGCN that are not tracked in the Biotics database
  
  
• Develop and refine tools that enable assessments of wildlife through limited sampling (i.e., using predictive models)
  
  
• Conduct more specific and strategic monitoring for individual species that are imperiled, known indicators of ecological integrity, or known to have specific requirements that are not assessed by landscape feature monitoring
  
  
• Conduct surveys and status assessments for taxonomic groups that are poorly understood or undocumented
  
  
• Determine habitat use by and threats to SGCN for which basic life-history information is unavailable
  
  
• Complete research and monitoring to evaluate effectiveness of conservation actions