IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecomod/v225y2012icp61-65.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Reducing uncertainty about objective functions in adaptive management

Author

Listed:
  • Williams, Byron K.

Abstract

This paper extends the uncertainty framework of adaptive management to include uncertainty about the objectives to be used in guiding decisions. Adaptive decision making typically assumes explicit and agreed-upon objectives for management, but allows for uncertainty as to the structure of the decision process that generates change through time. Yet it is not unusual for there to be uncertainty (or disagreement) about objectives, with different stakeholders expressing different views not only about resource responses to management but also about the appropriate management objectives. In this paper I extend the treatment of uncertainty in adaptive management, and describe a stochastic structure for the joint occurrence of uncertainty about objectives as well as models, and show how adaptive decision making and the assessment of post-decision monitoring data can be used to reduce uncertainties of both kinds. Different degrees of association between model and objective uncertainty lead to different patterns of learning about objectives.

Suggested Citation

  • Williams, Byron K., 2012. "Reducing uncertainty about objective functions in adaptive management," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 225(C), pages 61-65.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecomod:v:225:y:2012:i:c:p:61-65
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2011.11.009
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304380011005291
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2011.11.009?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Williams, Byron K., 2009. "Markov decision processes in natural resources management: Observability and uncertainty," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 220(6), pages 830-840.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Williams, Perry J. & Kendall, William L., 2017. "A guide to multi-objective optimization for ecological problems with an application to cackling goose management," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 343(C), pages 54-67.
    2. Ashley B. C. Goode & Erin Rivenbark & Jessica A. Gilbert & Conor P. McGowan, 2023. "Prioritization of Species Status Assessments for Decision Support," Decision Analysis, INFORMS, vol. 20(4), pages 311-325, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Li, Y.P. & Huang, G.H. & Zhang, N. & Nie, S.L., 2011. "An inexact-stochastic with recourse model for developing regional economic-ecological sustainability under uncertainty," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 222(2), pages 370-379.
    2. You, L. & Li, Y.P. & Huang, G.H. & Zhang, J.L., 2014. "Modeling regional ecosystem development under uncertainty – A case study for New Binhai District of Tianjin," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 288(C), pages 127-142.
    3. Stéphane S. Couture & Marie-Josée Cros & Régis Sabbadin, 2014. "Risk preferences and optimal management of uneven-aged forests in the presence of climate change: a Markov decision process approach," Post-Print hal-02741407, HAL.
    4. Couture, Stéphane & Cros, Marie-Josée & Sabbadin, Régis, 2016. "Risk aversion and optimal management of an uneven-aged forest under risk of windthrow: A Markov decision process approach," Journal of Forest Economics, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 94-114.
    5. Williams, Byron K. & Eaton, Mitchell J. & Breininger, David R., 2011. "Adaptive resource management and the value of information," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 222(18), pages 3429-3436.
    6. Schuurman, Daniel & Weersink, Alfons & Delaporte, Aaron, 2021. "Optimal Sequential Crop Choices for Soil Carbon Management: A Dynamic Programming Approach," 2021 Annual Meeting, August 1-3, Austin, Texas 314042, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    7. do Val, J.B.R. & Guillotreau, P. & Vallée, T., 2019. "Fishery management under poorly known dynamics," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 279(1), pages 242-257.
    8. Johnson, Fred A. & Jensen, Gitte H. & Madsen, Jesper & Williams, Byron K., 2014. "Uncertainty, robustness, and the value of information in managing an expanding Arctic goose population," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 273(C), pages 186-199.
    9. David Breininger & Brean Duncan & Mitchell Eaton & Fred Johnson & James Nichols, 2014. "Integrating Land Cover Modeling and Adaptive Management to Conserve Endangered Species and Reduce Catastrophic Fire Risk," Land, MDPI, vol. 3(3), pages 1-24, July.
    10. Williams, Byron K., 2011. "Resolving structural uncertainty in natural resources management using POMDP approaches," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 222(5), pages 1092-1102.
    11. Zhou, Mo, 2017. "Valuing environmental amenities through inverse optimization: Theory and case study," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 217-230.
    12. Schapaugh, Adam W. & Tyre, Andrew J., 2013. "Accounting for parametric uncertainty in Markov decision processes," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 254(C), pages 15-21.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:ecomod:v:225:y:2012:i:c:p:61-65. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/ecological-modelling .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.