Decision Support Tool for Open Pine Systems

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Decision Support Toolfor Open Pine Systems

• East Gulf Coastal Plain Joint Venture

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What is the problem?
Biological planning - Ecological context

• Context
• Who are the decision makers?
• Under what authority do they act?
• Who else has influence on the decision?
• Nature of the decision
• Timing and frequency

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Open Pine Decision Support Tool
Biological planning - Ecological context

• Problem Prioritize areas within the East Gulf
  Coastal Plain Joint Venture boundary for
  strategic conservation of open pine ecosystems by
  partner agencies and stakeholders.
• Conservation implementation on the selected areas
  is expected to result in target populations of
  birds associated with these ecosystems.
• Selection of areas based on fundamental concepts
  of landscape ecology and conservation biology.
• Encourage that longleaf pine be reforested
  wherever practical and appropriate.
• Updated periodically as new data become available.

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Dividing the problem
Biological planning - Ecological context

• Problem1 Identify a group of birds (focal
  species) associated with open pine systems that
  represent co-occurring species, are a reliable
  tool for biodiversity assessment, and are
  sensitive to resources, area, connectivity, and
  natural processes.
• Problem2 Identify priority areas for conserving
  and restoring open pines systems that satisfy
  criteria for quantity, configuration, and
  location to achieve target populations of the
  umbrella species.

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What are the objectives?

• Write it down (avoid group think)
• Convert concerns to succinct objectives
• Example Rank bird species
• Separate means from ends
• Means Rank priority of birds using open pine
  systems
• Ends Identify focal bird species for open pine
  systems
• Clarify each objective
• Identify the most sensitive species in terms of
  resources, area requirements, connectivity, and
  natural processes.

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Objectives
Biological planning Species Selection/Habitat
Relationships

• Started with an initial list of priority species
• Identified critical resources they represent
• Habitat structure BA, density, stand age, etc.
• Large area requirements
• Connectivity requirements
• Natural processes fire frequency and season
• Resources habitat objectives
• Describe the outcome of using focal species

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Creating alternatives
Biological planning Species Selection/Habitat
Relationships

• Ask how you can best achieve the objectives
• Challenge constraints
• Avoid psychological traps
• Anchoring on initial values
• Salient examples
• Sunk costs
• Think on your own
• Learn from experience
• Adaptive management
• Requires monitoring evaluation

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Alternatives
Biological planning Species Selection/Habitat
Relationships

• Developed a list of focal species
• most sensitive species in terms of resources,
  area requirements, connectivity, and natural
  processes
• Each species alternative for conservation
  planning
• Looking for the suite of species that best
  represents the important habitat attributes

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What are the consequences?
Biological planning Species Selection/Habitat
Relationships
Species Habitat Characteristics Habitat Characteristics Habitat Characteristics Habitat Characteristics Habitat Characteristics
Species Tree density Bare Ground Water depth Canopy Closure Hetero-geneity
A 10 9 8 6 7
B 10 8 8 4 7
C 10 8 5 7 7

• Assess the alternatives with respect to the
  objectives
• Can be qualitative or quantitative
• Requires an underlying model

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Assessing consequences
Biological planning Species Selection
Biological planning Species Selection/Habitat
Relationships
Species Habitat Characteristics Habitat Characteristics Habitat Characteristics Habitat Characteristics Habitat Characteristics
Species Tree density Bare Ground Water depth Canopy Closure Hetero-geneity
A 10 9 8 6 7
B 10 8 8 4 7
C 10 8 5 7 7

• Focus on distinguishing objectives
• For tree density and heterogeneity - A B C
• Focus on others

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Assessing consequences
Biological planning Species Selection
Biological planning Species Selection/Habitat
Relationships
Species Habitat Characteristics Habitat Characteristics Habitat Characteristics Habitat Characteristics Habitat Characteristics
Species Tree density Bare Ground Water depth Canopy Closure Hetero-geneity
A 10 9 8 6 7
B 10 8 8 4 7
C 10 8 5 7 7

• Dominated alternatives
• Eliminate alternatives (species) that are clearly
  inferior
• A gt B on objectives 2, 3, 4
• Eliminate B from consideration

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Assessing consequences
Biological planning Species Selection
Biological planning Species Selection/Habitat
Relationships
Species Habitat Characteristics Habitat Characteristics Habitat Characteristics Habitat Characteristics Habitat Characteristics
Species Tree density Bare Ground Water depth Canopy Closure Hetero-geneity
A 10 9 8 6 7
B 10 8 8 4 7
C 10 8 5 7 7

• Make even swaps
• Objective 2
• Amount of bare ground twice as important as
  canopy closure
• Comparison
• A.2 gt C.2 (A.2 C.2 9-8 1)
• A.4 lt C.4 (A.4 C.4 7-6 1)
• 2A.2 C.2 gt C.4 gtA.4
• A is clearly the better alternative

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Assessing consequences
Biological planning Species Selection
Biological planning Species Selection/Habitat
Relationships
Habitat Characteristics Habitat Characteristics Habitat Characteristics Habitat Characteristics Habitat Characteristics Habitat Characteristics Habitat Characteristics Habitat Characteristics Habitat Characteristics
Species Low Canopy Cover Diverse, Herb-aceous Under-story Low Basal Area/ Tree Density Old trees Snags Large Patch Size High Fire Frequency Growing Season Fire Bare Ground
BASP X X X X X
BRNU X X X
HESP X X X X X
NOBO X X X X X X
RCWO X X X X X
AMKE X X X X X

• Priority species (alternatives) rows
• Habitat attributes (objectives) columns

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Assessing consequences
Biological planning Species Selection
Biological planning Species Selection/Habitat
Relationships
Habitat Characteristics Habitat Characteristics Habitat Characteristics Habitat Characteristics Habitat Characteristics Habitat Characteristics Habitat Characteristics Habitat Characteristics Habitat Characteristics
Species Low Canopy Cover Diverse, Herb-aceous Under-story Low Basal Area/ Tree Density Old trees Snags Large Patch Size High Fire Frequency Growing Season Fire Bare Ground
BASP X X X X X
BRNU X X X
HESP X X X X X
NOBO X X X X X X
RCWO X X X X X
AMKE X X X X X

• Priority species (alternatives) rows
• Habitat attributes (objectives) columns
• Distinguishing objectives differ among the
  alternatives

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Assessing consequences
Biological planning Species Selection
Biological planning Species Selection/Habitat
Relationships
Habitat Characteristics Habitat Characteristics Habitat Characteristics Habitat Characteristics Habitat Characteristics Habitat Characteristics Habitat Characteristics Habitat Characteristics Habitat Characteristics
Species Low Canopy Cover Diverse, Herb-aceous Under-story Low Basal Area/ Tree Density Old trees Snags Large Patch Size High Fire Frequency Growing Season Fire Bare Ground
BASP X X X X X
BRNU X X X
HESP X X X X X
NOBO X X X X X X
RCWO X X X X X
AMKE X X X X

• Dominated alternatives
• Same outcome for each attribute
• Mapping same habitats

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Assessing consequences
Biological planning Species Selection
Biological planning Species Selection/Habitat
Relationships

• Basis
• Preference to high priority species
• Unidentified attributes?

Habitat Characteristics Habitat Characteristics Habitat Characteristics Habitat Characteristics Habitat Characteristics Habitat Characteristics Habitat Characteristics Habitat Characteristics Habitat Characteristics
Species Low Canopy Cover Diverse, Herb-aceous Under-story Low Basal Area/ Tree Density Old trees Snags Large Patch Size High Fire Frequency Growing Season Fire Bare Ground
BASP X X X X X
BRNU X X X
HESP X X X X X
NOBO X X X X X X
RCWO X X X X X
AMKE X X X X

• Revisit the objective to identify important
  characteristics
• Unlike the other species HESP use wet sites in
  lower coastal plain and bogs in upper coastal
  plain.

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Assessing consequences
Biological planning Species Selection/Habitat
Relationships

• Basis
• Preference to high priority species
• Unidentified attributes?

Habitat Characteristics Habitat Characteristics Habitat Characteristics Habitat Characteristics Habitat Characteristics Habitat Characteristics Habitat Characteristics Habitat Characteristics Habitat Characteristics
Species Low Canopy Cover Diverse, Herb-aceous Under-story Low Basal Area/ Tree Density Old trees Snags Large Patch Size High Fire Frequency Growing Season Fire Bare Ground Wet Savannah/ Bogs
BASP X X X X X
BRNU X X X
HESP X X X X X X
NOBO X X X X X X
RCWO X X X X X
AMKE X X X X

• Revisit the objective to identify
  distinguishing characteristics
• Unlike the other species HESP use wet sites in
  lower coastal plain and bogs in upper coastal
  plain.

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Open Pine Decision Support Tool
Conservation Design Desired Landscape
Configuration

• Problem1 Identify a group of birds (umbrella
  species) associated with open pine systems that
  represent co-occurring species, are a reliable
  tool for biodiversity assessment, and are
  sensitive to resources, area, connectivity, and
  natural processes.
• Problem2 Identify priority areas for conserving
  and restoring open pines systems that satisfy
  criteria for quantity, configuration, and
  location to achieve target populations of the
  umbrella species.

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Conservation design guidelines

• Large reserves are better than smaller ones
• One larger reserve is better than several small
  ones
• Reserves that are close together are better
• Individual reserves should be equidistant
• Reserves connected by corridors are better
• Circular reserves are better than elongated ones.
• Diamond, J.A.  1975.  The island dilemma lessons
  of modern biogeographic studies for the design of
  natural reserves.  Biological Conservation 7
  129-146.

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Prioritization Objectives
Conservation Design Desired Landscape
Configuration

• Capitalize on recent restoration and management
  efforts
• Restore on appropriate sites.
• Encourage long-term conservation stewardship and
  connectivity
• Existing and potential habitat for priority
  species
• Connectivity to existing open pine (longleaf)
  systems
• Areas where frequent fire can be used as a
  management tool
• Areas connective to existing source populations
• Sufficient habitat to meet population objectives

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Prioritization Objectives
Conservation Design Desired Landscape
Configuration

• Capitalize on recent restoration and management
  efforts
• Restore on appropriate sites.
• Encourage long-term conservation stewardship and
  connectivity
• Existing and potential habitat for priority
  species
• Connectivity to existing open pine (longleaf)
  systems
• Areas where frequent fire can be used as a
  management tool
• Areas connective to existing source populations
• Sufficient habitat to meet population objectives

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Priority model
Conservation Design Desired Landscape
Configuration

• Combine densities to map priority for each
  species
• Limiting factors ()
• Suitable longleaf sites (S)
• Potential to use fire (F)
• Compensatory factors ()
• Putative source populations (P)1
• Public lands (L)
• Distance to potential habitat (H)11Species
  specific data

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Prioritizing areas
Conservation Design Decision Support Tool
Objectives Limiting or Compensatory
Capitalize on recent restoration and management efforts A C
Restore on appropriate sites. S L
Long-term conservation stewardship L C
Existing and potential habitat for priority species H C
Frequent use of fire F L
Near source populations P C
Priority SF(APLH)
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Species priorities
Conservation Design Decision Support Tool
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Overall Priorities
Conservation Design Decision Support Tool
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Alternatives Sufficient area
Conservation Design Decision Support Tool
Efficacy of Alternative Models(total density) Efficacy of Alternative Models(total density) Efficacy of Alternative Models(total density)
Objectives A B C
Build from existing open pine (longleaf) systems Existing open pine Existing open pine Existing open pine
Capitalize on recent restoration and management efforts Recent projects Recent projects Recent projects
Restore on appropriate sites. Suitable sites Suitable sites Suitable sites
Long-term conservation stewardship Public lands Public lands Public lands
Existing and potential habitat for priority species Potential habitat Potential habitat Potential habitat
Frequent use of fire Burnable area Burnable area Burnable area
Near source populations Large tracts of potential habitat Large tracts of potential habitat Large tracts of potential habitat
Meet population goals Given Given Given