Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
through.the.dike.was.also.mentioned.as.a.possibility..Creativity.is.encouraged.by.
the.structured.process.
Trade-offs. are. an. important. consideration. in. the. impoundment. problem..
Freshwater.impoundments.maintained.by.a.dike.are.not.a.“natural”.component.of.
the.coastal.environment;.if.the.dike.is.removed,.either.a.saltmarsh.or.a.mudlat.will.
likely.replace.the.impoundment..These.habitats.support.different.sets.of.species;.
any. decision. will. trade. off. the. needs. of. one. set. of. species. for. another.. Different.
decisions. carry. different. costs;. decisions. will. be. made. based. upon. whether. the.
value.of.the.impoundments.to.the.target.species.outweighs.the.costs,.among.other.
criteria.. The. model. will. provide. the. accounting. system. for. calculating. the. cost-
beneit. ratio.. However,. the. manager. retains. the. decision-making. authority;. the.
model. simply. informs. that. decision. by. summarizing. and. reporting. the. available.
information.
The.structured.process.helped.this.group.of.managers.think.through.a.complex,.
shared.problem.and.facilitated.input.from.managers.higher.in.the.organization.as.
well.as.partners.outside.of.the.Refuge.System..The.workshops.allowed.the.man-
agers. to. discuss. their. management. objectives. for. these. impoundments. in. depth.
and. consider. how. to. measure. the. achievement. of. their. management. objectives..
Workshop.minutes.have.been.translated.into.a.project.record.that.documents.deci-
sions. made. by. the. team. and. details. of. the. model.. The. project. record. is. updated.
as.the.project.evolves..This.project.is.in.the.initial,.structuring.phase.of.AM..The.
managers. are. committed. to. developing. a. monitoring. plan. that. will. help. inform.
future.decisions.
SUMMARY
Climate.change.brings.with.it.greater.uncertainty.about.what.public.resource.manag-
ers. should. be. managing. for. (conservation. targets). and. what. strategies. are. likely. to.
meet.their.objectives..We.suggest.that.a.structured.approach.to.management.decision.
making. fosters. high-quality. communication. among. managers,. scientists,. and. other.
stakeholders.and.broad.stakeholder.input.into.the.value-based.components,.and.pro-
motes. the. application. of. the. best. available. science. in. the. modeling. and. monitoring.
components..The.structured.approach.breaks.down.the.problem.into.various.compo-
nents.that.can.be.considered.individually.and.in.context.with.the.other.components..
It.can.be.scaled.to.the.complexity.and.time.frame.of.the.problem;.a.relatively.simple.
approach. is. applied. to. simple. problems. or. short-term. decisions. and. a. more. inten-
sive,.model-based.approach.can.be.used.for.more.complex.problems.and.long-term.
decisions.
The.focus.of.decision.analysis.is.on.resolving.a.management.problem.and.reduc-
ing.uncertainty.regarding.management.decisions..Information.about.how.ecosystems.
are.structured.or.how.they.function.is.relevant.in.this.context.only.if.it.helps.reduce.
management. uncertainty.. Thus,. applying. SDM. and. AM. on. the. ground. requires.
recognizing.that.the.practice.of.resource.management.is.different.than.the.practice.
of.scientiic.inquiry.and.requires.a.set.of.tools.designed.speciically.to.address.the.
needs.of.resource.managers..This.is.a.paradigm.shift.for.both.ecological.scientists.
and.for.resource.managers.
