Tools for Landscape Biodiversity
Planning
Frank W. Davis
National Center for Ecological Analysis
and Synthesis
UC Santa Barbara
2 mi
1 mi
2 mi
1 mi
Biodiversity in fragmented habitats
Landscape Goals
Assessments
abiotic
biotic
cultural
Strategies & Scenarios
Adaptive implementation &
monitoring
Community Visioning
•
•
•
•
Spatial understanding
Setting goals
Exposing tradeoffs
Weighting multiple
criteria
• Examining alternative
futures
http://placeways.com/
Examples of community visioning tools
Tool
Purpose
URL
1000minds
Discover people’s preferences
www.1000minds.com
What If?
Evaluate alternative futures
www.whatifinc.biz
CommunityViz
Evaluate alternative futures
placeways/.com
UPlan
Model future development
http://ice.ucdavis.edu/proje
ct/uplan
Landscape Assessment
•
•
•
•
Resource quality
Threats
Costs
Opportunities & Constraints
Tools for assessing the conservation landscape
Tool
Purpose
URL
NatureServe Vista
Conservation planning
http://www.natureserve.org/prodServices/vi
sta/overview.jsp
EMDS
Environmental assessment
http://www.institute.redlands.edu/emds/
Maxent
Species distribution
models
http://www.cs.princeton.edu/~schapire/max
ent/
Zonation
Multispecies habitat
quality
http://www.helsinki.fi/bioscience/consplan/s
oftware/Zonation/index.html
Circuitscape
Habitat connectivity
http://www.circuitscape.org
Method
An Example: Landscape analysis for mountain lions in the SF Bay region
(Bren class project)
Puma CWHR, Deer
CWHR, Ecocondition
Raster calculation
Habitat Suitability map
Puma and Deer
Zonation software
Core Areas for Puma
population
Circuitscape software
Connectivity Analysis
Ramas Metapop software
+
Literature review
Population Viability
Analysis
How does connectivity affect the
populations of Puma concolor in the
Southern half of the Bay Area?
Circuitscape: Connectivity Analysis
Landscape process modeling
•
•
•
•
•
Tools for modeling landscape processes
Agent-based models (e.g., HEXSIM)
Population models (e.g., RAMAS)
Ecosystem models (e.g. STELLA)
Landscape models (e.g., LANDIS)
http://www.naturecanada.ca/media/
images/ord%27s-kangaroo-rat3.jpg
Modeling ecosystem services
•
•
•
•
•
watershed processes
carbon
resource production
pollination services
cultural values
Tools for modeling and
mapping ecosystem services
Tool
Purpose
URL
InVEST
Ecosystem service
mapping, tradeoff analysis
www.naturalcapitalproject.org
N-SPECT
Non-point source pollution
and erosion modeling
http://www.csc.noaa.gov/digitalco
ast/tools/nspect
SPARROW
Non-point source pollution
modeling
http://water.usgs.gov/nawqa/sparr
ow/
SolVES
Assess and map public
values for ecosystems
http://solves.cr.usgs.gov/
Conservation strategies and scenarios
•
•
•
•
hotspot analysis
conservation portfolio design
investment prioritization
tradeoff analysis
Site scores for protecting
underrepresented wildlife habitat
types, accounting for land cost and
projected housing development in
the Sierra Nevada region. (Davis et
al. Ecology and Society 2006)
Tools for evaluating and mapping
conservation priorities
Tool
Purpose
URL
NatureServe Vista
Conservation planning
http://www.natureserve.org/prodS
ervices/vista/overview.jsp
Zonation
Multi-species habitat
quality and connectivity
http://www.helsinki.fi/bioscience/c
onsplan/software/Zonation/index.
html
Marxan
Reserve network design
http://www.uq.edu.au/marxan/
http://www.bayarealands.org/ for a good example of
regional conservation planning using Marxan
Barriers to Tool Adoption
☹ “Conservation is opportunistic, not rational.”
☹ “The data don’t exist.”
☹ “I don’t trust computers.”
☹ “There are a zillion possible solutions.”
☹ “I’m bored.”
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2009/0904/
Some Resources