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NCSSF
Project A10
Decision Support Systems for Forest Biodiversity: Evaluation of
Current Systems and Future Needs
DSS
Selection Criteria
Purpose
& Application
Our first criterion is to look for systems which are designed for
or have been used on forest biodiversity issues. We are prioritizing
these by 3 general classes:
- Subject-specific DSS
(or component) designed to address forest biodiversity issues
- Subject-specific DSS
designed for other purposes (probably either forestry or biodiversity
on its own) but which has some capacity to address forest biodiversity
- General purpose DSS
which has known applications to forest biodiversity
Support
for Specific Processes
The literature on DSS use for ecosystem management and other environmental
tasks has emphasized the critical need for support in the following
areas (Mowrer 1997, Dale & English 1999, Rauscher 1999):
-
integration
of social, economic and biophysical information,
-
transformation
between spatial scales,
-
facilitation
of social negotiation and learning.
Support
for Specific Issues
We have interviewed
a number of forest biodiversity experts to come up with a priority
list of issues for the field, and we are specifically looking for
systems which address these themes:
- operational definitions
of biodiversity
- economic/biodiversity
trade-offs
- invasive species
- development
- climate change
- timber harvesting
effects
- certification
- fire
Extent of Use
Generally, the greater
the number of estimated applications of the DSS, especially to forest
biodiversity issues, the higher priority we give to its review.
However, we are trying to include all systems that meet the above
criteria, even if they are not currently being applied or are in
the prototyping stage.
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