TY - JOUR
T1 - A management-oriented framework for selecting metrics used to assess habitat- and path-specific quality in spatially structured populations
AU - Nicol, Sam
AU - Wiederholt, Ruscena
AU - Diffendorfer, Jay E.
AU - Mattsson, Brady J.
AU - Thogmartin, Wayne E.
AU - Semmens, Darius J.
AU - López-Hoffman, Laura
AU - Norris, D. Ryan
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by the National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis working group on Habitat for Migratory Species , funded by the National Science Foundation through NSF Award #DBI-1300426. We thank the members of the group for discussions regarding this manuscript. Any use of trade, product, or firm names are for descriptive purposes only and do not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.
PY - 2016/10/1
Y1 - 2016/10/1
N2 - Mobile species with complex spatial dynamics can be difficult to manage because their population distributions vary across space and time, and because the consequences of managing particular habitats are uncertain when evaluated at the level of the entire population. Metrics to assess the importance of habitats and pathways connecting habitats in a network are necessary to guide a variety of management decisions. Given the many metrics developed for spatially structured models, it can be challenging to select the most appropriate one for a particular decision. To guide the management of spatially structured populations, we define three classes of metrics describing habitat and pathway quality based on their data requirements (graph-based, occupancy-based, and demographic-based metrics) and synopsize the ecological literature relating to these classes. Applying the first steps of a formal decision-making approach (problem framing, objectives, and management actions), we assess the utility of metrics for particular types of management decisions. Our framework can help managers with problem framing, choosing metrics of habitat and pathway quality, and to elucidate the data needs for a particular metric. Our goal is to help managers to narrow the range of suitable metrics for a management project, and aid in decision-making to make the best use of limited resources.
AB - Mobile species with complex spatial dynamics can be difficult to manage because their population distributions vary across space and time, and because the consequences of managing particular habitats are uncertain when evaluated at the level of the entire population. Metrics to assess the importance of habitats and pathways connecting habitats in a network are necessary to guide a variety of management decisions. Given the many metrics developed for spatially structured models, it can be challenging to select the most appropriate one for a particular decision. To guide the management of spatially structured populations, we define three classes of metrics describing habitat and pathway quality based on their data requirements (graph-based, occupancy-based, and demographic-based metrics) and synopsize the ecological literature relating to these classes. Applying the first steps of a formal decision-making approach (problem framing, objectives, and management actions), we assess the utility of metrics for particular types of management decisions. Our framework can help managers with problem framing, choosing metrics of habitat and pathway quality, and to elucidate the data needs for a particular metric. Our goal is to help managers to narrow the range of suitable metrics for a management project, and aid in decision-making to make the best use of limited resources.
KW - Decision theory
KW - Graph theory
KW - Metapopulations
KW - Occupancy
KW - Perturbation analysis
KW - Spatially structured populations
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U2 - 10.1016/j.ecolind.2016.05.027
DO - 10.1016/j.ecolind.2016.05.027
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:84973915813
VL - 69
SP - 792
EP - 802
JO - Ecological Indicators
JF - Ecological Indicators
SN - 1470-160X
ER -