Structured Decision Making: Case Studies in Natural Resource Management (Wildlife Management and Conservation)

✍ Scribed by Michael C. Runge, Sarah J. Converse, James E. Lyons, David R. Smith

• Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
• Year: 2020
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 285
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Provides and analyzes real examples of how structured decision making (SDM) can help solve complex problems involving natural resources.

When faced with complicated, potentially controversial decisions that affect our environment, many resource management agencies have come to realize the value of structured decision making (SDM)―the systematic use of principles and tools of decision analysis. Few professionals, however, have extensive experience implementing SDM. Structured Decision Making provides key information to both current adopters of the method and those who are deploying it for the first time by demonstrating the formal use of decision analysis to support difficult, real-world natural resource management decisions. Drawing on case studies from multiple public agencies in the United States, Canada, Australia, and Mauritius, the editors present an overview of decision analysis, a classification of decision types, and a catalog of decision analysis methods. Dozens of detailed charts and maps help contextualize the material.

These case studies examine a rich variety of topics, including

• keeping forest birds free from disease
• conserving imperiled freshwater mussels
• managing water for oil sands mining
• dealing with coastal wetlands in the face of sea-level rise
• designing networks for prairie-dependent taxa
• combatting invasive alpine shrubs
• managing vernal pool habitats for obligate amphibian species
• and much more

Aimed at decision makers tackling natural resource challenges in government agencies around the world, as well as advanced undergraduate and graduate students preparing to work in natural resource management, Structured Decision Making shows how SDM can be implemented to achieve optimal outcomes that integrate social values and scientific understanding.

Contributors: Taber D. Allison, Larissa L. Bailey, Ellen A. Bean, Clint W. Boal, Gregory Breese, Stefano Canessa, Jean Fitts Cochrane, Sarah J. Converse, Cami S. Dixon, John G. Ewen, Christelle Ferrière, Jill J. Gannon, Beth Gardner, Adam W. Green, Justin A. Gude, Victoria M. Hunt, Kevin S. Kalasz, Melinda G. Knutson, Jim Kraus, Graham Long, Eric V. Lonsdorf, James E. Lyons, Conor P. McGowan, Sarah E. McRae, Michael S. Mitchell, Clinton T. Moore, Joslin L. Moore, Steven Morey, Dan W. Ohlson, Charlie Pascoe, Andrew Paul, Eben H. Paxton, Lori B. Pruitt, Michael C. Runge, Sarah N. Sells, Terry L. Shaffer, Stephanie Slade, David R. Smith, Jennifer A. Szymanski, Terry Walshe, Nicolas Zuël

✦ Table of Contents

Contents
Contributors
Foreword
Introduction
1. Decision Analysis for Managing Public Natural Resources
Part I: Structuring Decisions
2. Introduction to Structuring Decisions
3. Allocating Funds under the National Fish Habitat Action Plan
4. Keeping Hawai‘i’s Forest Birds One Step Ahead of Disease in a Warming World
Part II: Addressing Trade-Offs
5. Introduction to Multi-criteria Decision Analysis
6. Strategic Conservation of an Imperiled Freshwater Mussel, the Dwarf Wedgemussel, in North Carolina
7. Spawning Closures for Coral Reef Fin Fish
8. Managing Water for Oil Sands Mining
Part III: Addressing Resource Allocation
9. Introduction to Resource Allocation
10. Resource Allocation for Coastal Wetland Management: Confronting Uncertainty about Sea Level Rise
11. Reserve Network Design for Prairie-Dependent Taxa in South Puget Sound
12. Optimizing Resource Allocation for Managing a Shrub Invading Alpine Peatlands in Australia
Part IV: Addressing Risk
13. Introduction to Risk Analysis
14. Addressing Disease Risk to Develop a Health Program for Bighorn Sheep in Montana
15. Hedging against Uncertainty When Granting Permits for Mitigation
16. Dealing with Risk Attitudes in Supplementary Feeding of Mauritius Olive White-Eyes
Part V: Addressing Knowledge Gaps
17. Introduction to Prediction and the Value of Information
18. Developing Performance Criteria for a Population Model for Indiana Bat Conservation
19. Using a Research Experiment to Reduce Key Uncertainty about Managing Vernal Pool Habitats for Obligate Amphibian Species
20. Prioritizing Uncertainties to Improve Management of a Reintroduction Program
Part VI: Addressing Linked and Dynamic Decisions
21. Introduction to Linked and Dynamic Decisions
22. Restoration of Wetlands in the Prairie Pothole Region
23. An Adaptive Approach to Vegetation Management in Native Prairies of the Northern Great Plains
24. Decision Implementation and the Double-Loop Processin Adaptive Management of Horseshoe Crab Harvest in Delaware Bay
Index
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