IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/inm/ordeca/v20y2023i4p326-342.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Lessons Learned in Applying Decision Analysis to Natural Resource Management for High-Stakes Issues Surrounded by Uncertainty

Author

Listed:
  • Kelly F. Robinson

    (U.S. Geological Survey, Georgia Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602)

  • Mark R. DuFour

    (U.S. Geological Survey, Great Lakes Science Center - Lake Erie Biological Station, Huron, Ohio 44839)

  • Jason L. Fischer

    (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Alpena Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office, Trenton, Michigan 4818)

  • Seth J. Herbst

    (Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Lansing, Michigan 48933)

  • Michael L. Jones

    (Quantitative Fisheries Center, Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824)

  • Lucas R. Nathan

    (Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Lansing, Michigan 48933)

  • Tammy J. Newcomb

    (Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Lansing, Michigan 48933)

Abstract

Management agencies are tasked with difficult decisions for conservation and management of natural resources. These decisions are difficult because of ecological and social uncertainties, the potential for multiple decision makers from multiple jurisdictions, and the need to account for the diverse values of stakeholders. Decision analysis provides a framework for accounting for these difficulties when making conservation and management decisions. We discuss the benefits of the application of decision analysis for these types of issues and provide insights from three case studies from the Laurentian Great Lakes. These case studies describe applications of decision analysis for decisions within an agency (management of double-crested cormorant), among agencies (response to invasive grass carp), and among agencies and stakeholders (sustainable fisheries harvest management). These case studies provide insight into the ways that decision analysis can be useful for conservation and management of natural resources, but we also highlight future needs for decision making for these resources. In particular, applications of decision analysis for conservation and management would benefit from enhanced integration of both ecological and social science, inclusion of a broader base of stakeholders and rightsholders, and better educational opportunities surrounding decision analysis for undergraduates and graduate students of natural resources management programs. Specific lessons from our experiences include the importance of establishing trust and transparency early through the formation of a working group, collaboratively defining objectives and evaluating uncertainties, risks, and tradeoffs, and implementing participatory modeling processes with an independent facilitator with appropriate quantitative skills.

Suggested Citation

  • Kelly F. Robinson & Mark R. DuFour & Jason L. Fischer & Seth J. Herbst & Michael L. Jones & Lucas R. Nathan & Tammy J. Newcomb, 2023. "Lessons Learned in Applying Decision Analysis to Natural Resource Management for High-Stakes Issues Surrounded by Uncertainty," Decision Analysis, INFORMS, vol. 20(4), pages 326-342, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ordeca:v:20:y:2023:i:4:p:326-342
    DOI: 10.1287/deca.2023.0015
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/deca.2023.0015
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1287/deca.2023.0015?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Julien Martin & Paul Fackler & James Nichols & Bruce Lubow & Mitchell Eaton & Michael Runge & Bradley Stith & Catherine Langtimm, 2011. "Structured decision making as a proactive approach to dealing with sea level rise in Florida," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 107(1), pages 185-202, July.
    2. Robin Gregory & Ralph L. Keeney, 2017. "A Practical Approach to Address Uncertainty in Stakeholder Deliberations," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 37(3), pages 487-501, March.
    3. Johnson, Fred A. & Smith, Brian J. & Bonneau, Mathieu & Martin, Julien & Romagosa, Christina & Mazzotti, Frank & Waddle, Hardin & Reed, Robert N. & Eckles, Jennifer Kettevrlin & Vitt, Laurie J., 2017. "Expert Elicitation, Uncertainty, and the Value of Information in Controlling Invasive Species," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 83-90.
    4. Payam Aminpour & Steven A. Gray & Antonie J. Jetter & Joshua E. Introne & Alison Singer & Robert Arlinghaus, 2020. "Wisdom of stakeholder crowds in complex social–ecological systems," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 3(3), pages 191-199, March.
    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. Kelly F. Robinson & Erin Baker & Elizabeth Ewing & Victoria Hemming & Melissa A. Kenney & Michael C. Runge, 2023. "Decision Analysis to Advance Environmental Sustainability," Decision Analysis, INFORMS, vol. 20(4), pages 243-251, 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. Joshua Aaron Becker & Douglas Guilbeault & Edward Bishop Smith, 2022. "The Crowd Classification Problem: Social Dynamics of Binary-Choice Accuracy," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(5), pages 3949-3965, May.
    2. Luhede, Amelie & Yaqine, Houda & Bahmanbijari, Reza & Römer, Michael & Upmann, Thorsten, 2024. "The value of information in water quality monitoring and management," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 219(C).
    3. Zare, Fateme & Jakeman, Anthony J. & Elsawah, Sondoss & Guillaume, Joseph H.A., 2024. "Bridging practice and science in socio-environmental systems research and modelling: A design science approach," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 492(C).
    4. Holly Edwards, 2013. "Potential impacts of climate change on warmwater megafauna: the Florida manatee example (Trichechus manatus latirostris)," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 121(4), pages 727-738, December.
    5. Ghani, Latifah Abdul & Mahmood, Noor Zalina, 2023. "Modeling domestic wastewater pathways on household system using the socio-MFA techniques," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 480(C).
    6. Kelly F. Robinson & Erin Baker & Elizabeth Ewing & Victoria Hemming & Melissa A. Kenney & Michael C. Runge, 2023. "Decision Analysis to Advance Environmental Sustainability," Decision Analysis, INFORMS, vol. 20(4), pages 243-251, December.
    7. Haeussler, Carolin & Vieth, Sabrina, 2022. "A question worth a million: The expert, the crowd, or myself? An investigation of problem solving," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(3).
    8. Timothy McDaniels, 2021. "Four Decades of Transformation in Decision Analytic Practice for Societal Risk Management," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 41(3), pages 491-502, March.
    9. Sam Nicol & Brad Griffith & Jane Austin & Christine Hunter, 2014. "Optimal water depth management on river-fed National Wildlife Refuges in a changing climate," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 124(1), pages 271-284, May.
    10. Reed Noss, 2011. "Between the devil and the deep blue sea: Florida’s unenviable position with respect to sea level rise," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 107(1), pages 1-16, July.
    11. Vicki Bier, 2020. "The Role of Decision Analysis in Risk Analysis: A Retrospective," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 40(S1), pages 2207-2217, November.
    12. Payam Aminpour & Heike Schwermer & Steven Gray, 2021. "Do social identity and cognitive diversity correlate in environmental stakeholders? A novel approach to measuring cognitive distance within and between groups," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(11), pages 1-18, November.
    13. Tong, De & Sun, Yiyu & Tang, Junqing & Luo, Zhenying & Lu, Jinfeng & Liu, Xuan, 2023. "Modeling the interaction of internal and external systems of rural settlements: The case of Guangdong, China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 132(C).
    14. Wongnak, Phrutsamon & Bord, Séverine & Donnet, Sophie & Hoch, Thierry & Beugnet, Frederic & Chalvet-Monfray, Karine, 2022. "A hierarchical Bayesian approach for incorporating expert opinions into parametric survival models: A case study of female Ixodes ricinus ticks exposed to various temperature and relative humidity con," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 464(C).
    15. Ayedh Almutairi & John P. Wheeler & David L. Slutzky & James H. Lambert, 2019. "Integrating Stakeholder Mapping and Risk Scenarios to Improve Resilience of Cyber‐Physical‐Social Networks," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 39(9), pages 2093-2112, September.
    16. Sumaiya Haque & Hesam Mahmoudi & Navid Ghaffarzadegan & Konstantinos Triantis, 2023. "Mental models, cognitive maps, and the challenge of quantitative analysis of their network representations," System Dynamics Review, System Dynamics Society, vol. 39(2), pages 152-170, April.
    17. Amelie Luhede & Houda Yaqine & Reza Bahmanbijari & Michael Römer & Thorsten Upmann, 2023. "The Value of Information in Water Quality Monitoring and Management," CESifo Working Paper Series 10307, CESifo.

    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:inm:ordeca:v:20:y:2023:i:4:p:326-342. 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: Chris Asher (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/inforea.html .

    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.