Quantifying the relative contribution of an ecological reserve to conservation objectives

Global Ecology and Conservation
By: , and 

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Abstract

Evaluating the role public lands play in meeting conservation goals is an essential step in good governance. We present a tool for comparing the regional contribution of each of a suite of wildlife management units to conservation goals. We use weighted summation (simple additive weighting) to compute a Unit Contribution Index (UCI) based on species richness, population abundance, and a conservation score based on IUCN Red List classified threat levels. We evaluate UCI for a subset of the 729 participating wetlands of the Integrated Waterbird Management and Monitoring (IWMM) Program across U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Regions 3 (Midwest USA), 4 (Southeast USA), and 5 (Northeast USA). We found that the median across-Region UCI for Region 5 was greater than Regions 3 and 4, while Region 4 had the greatest within-Region UCI median. This index is a powerful tool for wildlife managers to evaluate the performance of units within the conservation estate.

Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title Quantifying the relative contribution of an ecological reserve to conservation objectives
Series title Global Ecology and Conservation
DOI 10.1016/j.gecco.2017.01.002
Volume 9
Year Published 2017
Language English
Publisher Elsevier
Contributing office(s) Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center
Description 6 p.
First page 142
Last page 147
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