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When to stop managing or surveying cryptic threatened species

Chades, Iadine, McDonald-Madden, Eve, McCarthy, Michael A., Wintle, Brendan, Linkie, Matthew, Possingham, Hugh P. (2008) When to stop managing or surveying cryptic threatened species. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 105 (37). pp. 13936-13940. ISSN 0027-8424. (doi:10.1073/pnas.0805265105) (The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided) (KAR id:14876)

The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided.
Official URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0805265105

Abstract

Threatened species become increasingly difficult to detect as their populations decline. Managers of such cryptic threatened species face several dilemmas: if they are not sure the species is present, should they continue to manage for that species or invest the limited resources in surveying? We find optimal solutions to this problem using a Partially Observable Markov Decision Process and rules of thumb derived from an analytical approximation. We discover that managing a protected area for a cryptic threatened species can be optimal even if we are not sure the species is present. The more threatened and valuable the species is, relative to the costs of management, the more likely we are to manage this species without determining its continued persistence by using surveys. If a species remains unseen, our belief in the persistence of the species declines to a point where the optimal strategy is to shift resources from saving the species to surveying for it. Finally, when surveys lead to a sufficiently low belief that the species is extant, we surrender resources to other conservation actions. We illustrate our findings with a case study using parameters based on the critically endangered Sumatran tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae), and we generate rules of thumb on how to allocate conservation effort for any cryptic species. Using Partially Observable Markov Decision Processes in conservation science, we determine the conditions under which it is better to abandon management for that species because our belief that it continues to exist is too low.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1073/pnas.0805265105
Uncontrolled keywords: conservation planning decision theory optimal monitoring Sumatran tiger
Subjects: Q Science > Q Science (General)
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Human and Social Sciences > School of Anthropology and Conservation > DICE (Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology)
Depositing User: Suzanne Duffy
Date Deposited: 04 Feb 2009 11:52 UTC
Last Modified: 16 Nov 2021 09:53 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/14876 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

University of Kent Author Information

Linkie, Matthew.

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