Is conservation triage just smart decision making?

Bottrill, Madeleine C.; Joseph, Liana N.; Carwardine, Josie; Bode, M. F.; Cook, Carly N.; Game, Edward T.; Grantham, Hedley S.; Kark, Salit; Linke, Simon; McDonald‐Madden, Eve; Pressey, Robert L.; Walker, Susan; Wilson, Kerrie A.; Possingham, Hugh P.

doi:10.1016/j.tree.2008.07.007

Cited by 535 publications

(448 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…This is not to say that the question is not valuable or that it may not need to be addressed in the future; it simply suggests that this particular research question should not be prioritized for limited conservation resources at this point in time. The use of our key is concordant with a recent call for conservation practitioners to employ a triage approach to the allocation of conservation resources, in the same manner that medical practitioners apply the triage approach to emergency medicine (Bottrill et al 2008, McDonald-Madden et al 2008a). …”

Section: A Decision Key To Evaluate the Conservation Merit Of Geneticsupporting

confidence: 56%

Conservation implications should guide the application of conservation genetics research

Howes¹,

Pither²,

Prior³

2009

Endang. Species. Res.

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Genetics research can reveal important insights into the effective management of species at risk, yet research does not often translate into meaningful management outcomes. Before engaging in genetics research, conservation practitioners should carefully consider the resulting management outcomes by identifying the potential results of the proposed research, the conservation implications of the results, whether these implications call for a change in management practices, and whether such a change is possible. We provide a decision key to aid practitioners in evaluating the merit of a particular genetics research question, and we demonstrate the use of this key with 2 example research questions.

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Section: A Decision Key To Evaluate the Conservation Merit Of Geneticsupporting

confidence: 56%

Conservation implications should guide the application of conservation genetics research

Howes¹,

Pither²,

Prior³

2009

Endang. Species. Res.

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“…There have been efforts towards handling this shortage by developing decision theory in the absence of perfect empirical information (Halpern et al 2006, Bottrill et al 2008, White et al 2010b, and developing approaches for designing MPAs based on representative areas that capture community-and ecosystem-level characteristics (Leslie et al 2003, Fernandes et al 2005) without considering whether populations will persist. The current state of the art in persistence-based MPA design is to use spatially explicit population models with connectivity estimates drawn from biophysical circulation simulations (White et al 2013).…”

Section: A Way Forwardmentioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond connectivity: how empirical methods can quantify population persistence to improve marine protected‐area design

Burgess

Nickols

Griesemer

et al. 2014

Ecological Applications

199

296

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Abstract. Demographic connectivity is a fundamental process influencing the dynamics and persistence of spatially structured populations. Consequently, quantifying connectivity is essential for properly designing networks of protected areas so that they achieve their core ecological objective of maintaining population persistence. Recently, many empirical studies in marine systems have provided essential, and historically challenging to obtain, data on patterns of larval dispersal and export from marine protected areas (MPAs). Here, we review the empirical studies that have directly quantified the origins and destinations of individual larvae and assess those studies' relevance to the theory of population persistence and MPA design objectives. We found that empirical studies often do not measure or present quantities that are relevant to assessing population persistence, even though most studies were motivated or contextualized by MPA applications. Persistence of spatial populations, like nonspatial populations, depends on replacement, whether individuals reproduce enough in their lifetime to replace themselves. In spatial populations, one needs to account for the effect of larval dispersal on future recruitment back to the local population through local retention and other connectivity pathways. The most commonly reported descriptor of larval dispersal was the fraction of recruitment from local origin (self-recruitment). Self-recruitment does not inform persistence-based MPA design because it is a fraction of those arriving, not a fraction of those leaving (local retention), so contains no information on replacement. Some studies presented connectivity matrices, which can inform assessments of persistence with additional knowledge of survival and fecundity after recruitment. Some studies collected data in addition to larval dispersal that could inform assessments of population persistence but which were not presented in that way. We describe how three pieces of empirical information are needed to fully describe population persistence in a network of MPAs: (1) lifetime fecundity, (2) the proportion of larvae that are locally retained (or the full connectivity matrix), and (3) survival rate after recruitment. We conclude by linking theory and data to provide detailed guidance to empiricists and practitioners on field sampling design and data presentation that better informs the MPA objective of population persistence.

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“…More generally, good quality risk assessments are an essential part of conservation efforts, since their outcome may lead to costly and sometimes controversial eradication or control actions. Transparent and sound risk assessments are needed to ensure efficient allocation of usually scarce conservation resources (Bottrill et al 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond protocols: improving the reliability of expert-based risk analysis underpinning invasive species policies

et al. 2017

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Risk assessment tools for listing invasive alien species need to incorporate all available evidence and expertise. Beyond the wealth of protocols developed to date, we argue that the current way of performing risk analysis has several shortcomings. In particular, lack of data on ecological impacts, transparency and repeatability of assessments as well as the incorporation of uncertainty should all be explicitly considered. We recommend improved quality control of risk assessments through formalized peer review with clear feedback between assessors and reviewers.Alternatively, a consensus building process can be applied to better capture opinions of different experts, thereby maximizing the evidential basis. Elaborating on manageability of invasive species is further needed to fully answer all risk analysis requirements. Tackling the issue of invasive species urges better handling of the acquired information on risk and the exploration of improved methods for decision making on biodiversity management. This is crucial for efficient conservation resource allocation and uptake by stakeholders and the public.

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Is conservation triage just smart decision making?

Cited by 535 publications

References 32 publications

Conservation implications should guide the application of conservation genetics research

Conservation implications should guide the application of conservation genetics research

Beyond connectivity: how empirical methods can quantify population persistence to improve marine protected‐area design

Beyond protocols: improving the reliability of expert-based risk analysis underpinning invasive species policies

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