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RobOff: software for analysis of alternative land‐use options and conservation actions
Author(s) -
Pouzols Federico Montesino,
Moilanen Atte
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
methods in ecology and evolution
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.425
H-Index - 105
ISSN - 2041-210X
DOI - 10.1111/2041-210x.12040
Subject(s) - environmental resource management , biodiversity , context (archaeology) , habitat , land use , habitat conservation , discounting , conservation biology , environmental planning , nature conservation , ecology , business , geography , environmental science , biology , archaeology , finance
Summary Habitat restoration is increasing in importance as a conservation action, compared with more traditional establishment of conservation areas. It is applied, for example, in the context of biodiversity offsetting, in which environmental impacts of economic activity are offset by additional compensating conservation efforts. We present a publicly available decision support software tool for the comparison of ecological impacts of alternative land‐use options. Methods implemented account for uncertain consequences of alternative land‐use options, including conservation actions. These actions have different costs and effects on different biodiversity features, including species, guilds or habitat types, in different environments. Consequences of actions are uncertain through time, and time discounting is allowed in the investigation of temporal preferences. This tool facilitates analyses relevant for planning of habitat restoration or management, environmental impact avoidance, biodiversity offsetting and scenario development for systematic conservation planning. RobOff derives its name from Robust Offsetting.