The Northern Great Plains Network consists of 13 National Park Service park units from the Dakotas, Nebraska, and eastern Wyoming. The Inventory & Monitoring (I&M) Program provides guidance, funding, and technical assistance to complete a set of 12 baseline natural resource inventories for parks. These inventories serve as the baseline for establishing long-term ecological monitoring, known as "Vital Signs Monitoring." Conceptual diagrams are a useful tool for both synthesizing and communicating complex ecosystem processes and features, and illustrating the role of monitoring.