| Contents Notes |
Threshold Concepts: Implications for the Management of Natural Resources -- Thresholds for conservation and management: structured decision making as a conceptual framework -- Identifying objectives and alternative actions to frame a decision problem -- Optimization in Natural Resources Conservation -- Application of Threshold Concepts to Ecological Management Problems: Occupancy of Golden Eagles in Denali National Park, Alaska -- Monitoring for threshold-dependent decisions -- Applying Threshold Concepts to Conservation Management of Dryland -- Using Natural Range of Variation to Set Decision Thresholds: A Case Study for Great Plains Grasslands -- Evaluating bioassessment designs and decision thresholds using simulation techniques -- Getting the message across: Using ecological integrity to communicate with resource managers -- Use, misuse, and limitations of Threshold Indicator Taxa Analysis (TITAN) for natural resource management -- Ecosystem trajectories: A statistical approach to analyze changing pressure-response relationships over time -- Detection of Harbingers of Catastrophic Regime Shifts in Drylands -- Case Study Chapter: Ecological Thresholds for Salt Marsh Nekton and Vegetation Communities -- Index. Scientists and managers have largely abandoned classic models that assume natural systems are in equilibrium and recognize the importance of understanding interactions between, and among, biotic and abiotic factors in ecosystems, and how these interactions lead to complexities that should be factored into natural resource management decisions. Even though the existence of ecological thresholds is becoming increasingly apparent, this has not been followed by its widespread adoption and incorporation into management decisions and goals. The ability to move from theory to application and make threshold concepts a problem solving tool for natural resource management remains a daunting challenge. This book addresses this challenge and shows how threshold concepts can be integrated into conservation and land management decision making. |
