Open AccessManaging uncertainty in movement knowledge for environmental decisions
Author(s) -
Smith Annabel L.,
Kujala Heini,
LahozMonfort José J.,
Guja Lydia K.,
Burns Emma L.,
Nathan Ran,
Alacs Erika,
Barton Philip S.,
Bau Sana,
Driscoll Don A.,
Lentini Pia E.,
Mortelliti Alessio,
Rowe Ross,
Buckley Yvonne M.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
conservation letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.153
H-Index - 79
ISSN - 1755-263X
DOI - 10.1111/conl.12620
Subject(s) - relevance (law) , environmental resource management , robustness (evolution) , movement (music) , environmental change , resource (disambiguation) , computer science , knowledge management , business , environmental planning , climate change , ecology , geography , political science , environmental science , computer network , biochemistry , philosophy , biology , law , gene , aesthetics , chemistry
Species’ movements affect their response to environmental change but movement knowledge is often highly uncertain. We now have well‐established methods to integrate movement knowledge into conservation practice but still lack a framework to deal with uncertainty in movement knowledge for environmental decisions. We provide a framework that distinguishes two dimensions of species’ movement that are heavily influenced by uncertainty: knowledge about movement and relevance of movement to environmental decisions. Management decisions can be informed by their position in this knowledge‐relevance space. We then outline a framework to support decisions around (1) increasing understanding of the relevance of movement knowledge, (2) increasing robustness of decisions to uncertainties and (3) improving knowledge on species’ movement. Our decision‐support framework provides guidance for managing movement‐related uncertainty in systematic conservation planning, agri‐environment schemes, habitat restoration and international biodiversity policy. It caters to different resource levels (time and funding) so that species’ movement knowledge can be more effectively integrated into environmental decisions.