Landscape design: Integrating ecological, social, and economic considerations into conservation planning

Abstract

Landscape design is a conservation planning process, described in the landscape ecology literature, proposed to rectify the knowledge and implementation gap in planning that have limited the effectiveness of many conservation planning efforts. Use of landscape design bridges this gap through increased emphasis on the interdisciplinary nature of conservation planning and engagement of a stakeholder advisory team to create a conservation plan that resonates with biological, cultural, social, and economic realities of the area concerned. We define landscape design as a conservation planning process that integrates societal goals and values with established biological conservation goals, using science grounded in landscape ecology to describe future scenarios where specific and measurable biological goals can be attained. First, we describe a landscape design process and provide examples from the literature and partnerships such as Connect the Connecticut and the Appalachian Landscape Conservation Cooperative. We follow by discussing a case study of a landscape design effort to conserve playa wetlands to support waterfowl goals for migrating waterfowl established in the North American Waterfowl Management Plan. We further highlight characteristics of a successfully completed landscape design. We conclude that landscape design is a powerful process that goes beyond identifying high‐priority conservation assets and intended to be an action‐oriented process. Landscape design provides a framework for ensuring that conservation planning does not occur in a vacuum by ensuring social, cultural, and economic needs of people are recognized before valuable conservation dollars are expended. It provides a mechanism for understanding the effects of future landscape drivers on natural resources and engages stakeholders in proactive discussions regarding conservation. The final result is a commitment by a partnership to a set of actions that will achieve the stated conservation goal. © 2016 The Wildlife Society.

The future of North American grassland birds: Incorporating persistent and emergent threats into full annual cycle conservation priorities

“…These population declines are linked to agricultural conversion, which remains an ongoing threat (Lark, Salmon, & Gibbs, 2015;NABCI, 2017). Incorporation of threats into spatial prioritization is a key component of landscape conservation design (Bartuszevige, Taylor, Daniels, & Carter, 2016), particularly in grassland ecosystems under threat from tilling (Gage, Olimb, & Nelson, 2016).…”

The history and importance of private lands for North American waterfowl conservation

“…Although in these instances the PLJV is promoting playa conservation to municipal entities based on benefits to water supplies, these outcomes nevertheless provide important resources for waterfowl and contribute to PLJV habitat objectives (Bartuszevige et al ). For example, the PLJV goal for waterfowl conservation is to provide 100% of foraging needs (i.e., duck energy‐days [DEDs]) for migrating and wintering waterfowl with native wetland seeds.…”

Extending the string-of-lights metaphor to describe dynamism in agricultural landscapes

“…Design of the agricultural landscape is similar because the types of landcovers should be matched to landscape suitability (e.g., USDA NRCS land capability classification (Klingebiel and Montgomery 1961) or Canada's land inventory rating for agriculture (Hills 1961)), the change to the desired sequencing of cover types over short and long time periods, and the ability to change the landcovers and sequencing. This design might be desired ''for the purpose of sustainably providing ecosystem services while recognizably meeting societal needs and respecting societal values'' (Nassauer and Opdam 2008, p. 835) by changing agricultural landscape patterns Jordan and Warner 2010;Lin 2011;Franzluebbers et al 2014;Bartuszevige et al 2016;Blanco-Canqui and Francis 2016;Landis 2017).…”