SYMP 12-1
Value of information theory and optimal monitoring for conservation biology
Conservation is a crisis science where action is required now. Choosing between different conservation actions requires predictions of the future, models. Given uncertainty in ecological and socio-economic parameters and processes, how much data do we need to make a good decision? How much time and money should we allocate to collecting data - time and money that could have been spent on managing? Value of Information theory is one rigorous approach to determining how much to invest in refining parameters, and active adaptive management theory can tell us how much effort to place on ongoing monitoring and experimentation. However monitoring has many purposes above and beyond making better decisions. Ultimately we need a holistic and simple rules of thumb grounded in basic theory to answer the problem of optimal monitoring for practitioners.
Results/Conclusions
We review previous work on value of information theory and active adaptive management in conservation. To make good decisions for allocating funds to monitoring, the purpose of monitoring needs to be clarified. We provide several new examples of how simple and complex approaches can be used to answer optimal monitoring questions such as: for how long should we trial different management methods, which species to monitor in a multi-species management problem, and which attributes of a reserve should be monitored to help us choose between conservation actions. Ultimately we are working towards rules of thumb for investment in knowledge acquisition.