As well as surveying and monitoring the condition of features of interest on a site, it is also often necessary to monitor the effects of management practices or environmental impacts. Management is usually carried out with the aim of achieving a particular target condition for a feature; for example, grazing might be introduced to maintain the species richness of a grassland, or burning might be carried out to rejuvenate a patch of moorland. It therefore follows that the impacts of management need to be monitored to ensure that management practices are having the desired effect. If management appears to be ineffective or has adverse effects, then the management regime can be appropriately adjusted. Records of past management practices and changes resulting from these are therefore vital if interventionist site management is to be more than a hit or miss affair. Building up a body of knowledge on the effects of different levels of grazing, burning, etc. on different habitats will enable management regimes to be sensitively designed. Monitoring non-management impacts such as those caused by erosion or unplanned fires is also important. Erosion is a naturally occurring process in some habitats, but may also be caused or exacerbated by management practices. Surveying and monitoring the effects of, for example, developments such as ports, marinas, airports, built development and associated infrastructure is now the norm, and yet few such studies exist to show the effects of such environmental impacts.