Generation of Priority Research Questions to Inform Conservation Policy and Management at a National Level

Abstract

Integrating knowledge from across the natural and social sciences is necessary to effectively address societal tradeoffs between human use of biological diversity and its preservation. Collaborative processes can change the ways decision makers think about scientific evidence, enhance levels of mutual trust and credibility, and advance the conservation policy discourse. Canada has responsibility for a large fraction of some major ecosystems, such as boreal forests, Arctic tundra, wetlands, and temperate and Arctic oceans. Stressors to biological diversity within these ecosystems arise from activities of the country's resource-based economy, as well as external drivers of environmental change. Effective management is complicated by incongruence between ecological and political boundaries and conflicting perspectives on social and economic goals. Many knowledge gaps about stressors and their management might be reduced through targeted, timely research. We identify 40 questions that, if addressed or answered, would advance research that has a high probability of supporting development of effective policies and management strategies for species, ecosystems, and ecological processes in Canada. A total of 396 candidate questions drawn from natural and social science disciplines were contributed by individuals with diverse organizational affiliations. These were collaboratively winnowed to 40 by our team of collaborators. The questions emphasize understanding ecosystems, the effects and mitigation of climate change, coordinating governance and management efforts across multiple jurisdictions, and examining relations between conservation policy and the social and economic well-being of Aboriginal peoples. The questions we identified provide potential links between evidence from the conservation sciences and formulation of policies for conservation and resource management. Our collaborative process of communication and engagement between scientists and decision makers for generating and prioritizing research questions at a national level could be a model for similar efforts beyond Canada.Generación de Preguntas de Investigación Prioritarias para Informar a las Políticas y Gestión de la Conservación a Nivel Nacional

Research Priorities to Improve Future Environmental Water Outcomes

“…Past horizon scanning studies in the environmental science field have identified questions using some combination of: (1) a survey to gather as wide a range of opinions in the field as possible, (2) a workshop, and (3) a review process (Sutherland et al, 2006(Sutherland et al, , 2013Rudd et al, 2011;Parsons et al, 2014;Seddon et al, 2014). We used all three stages of this sequence.…”

Making predictive ecology more relevant to policy makers and practitioners

“…The methods are broadly similar, but have evolved especially with the objectives of making them more rigorous and more transparent. The completed exercises include an assessment of the 100 questions of greatest importance to the conservation of global biological diversity [31], the top 40 priorities for science to inform conservation and management policy in the United States [32], the top questions of importance to the future of global agriculture [33], UK forestry [34] and Canada [35], identifying the big ecological questions inhibiting effective environmental management in Australia [36], identifying the major conservation policy issues that need to be informed by conservation science [37] and identifying the ecological research needs of business [38]. While the outputs of such exercises are dependent on the people involved, methods have been developed to try to ensure the process is democratic and transparent, so reducing the risk of undue influence of particular individuals.…”

The U.S. Geological Survey Ecosystem Science Strategy, 2012-2022 - Advancing discovery and application through collaboration

“…(Rudd and others, 2011) Given the rapid changes in both technology and the drivers that affect ecosystems, the USGS must increase its competency to understand, model, map, and forecast the spatial and temporal dynamics of ecosystem drivers and ecosystem responses to management decisions. Strong collaborations within the agency and with partners will be required to integrate knowledge of changing ecosystem conditions and the consequences of these changes into decisions involving terrestrial, freshwater, and marine systems.…”