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Instructions for Exploring the Conservation Biology Practice Exercises
This chapter of the Second Edition of Conservation Biology concludes with a Practice Exercise, which provide students the opportunity to learn and apply research skills and concepts related to the chapter content.
Chapter 15 Practice Exercise: Protected Area Networks
Protected areas represent one of the primary tools that conservation biologists use to conserve biodiversity. Practitioners must not only understand the criteria that are used to select protected areas, they must also understand how to optimize the selection of protected areas and organize them into a network to achieve landscape-scale conservation goals. Use the tutorial videos and spreadsheet exercises to learn about decision-making frameworks that help rank a set of areas under consideration for protection, and practice using optimization algorithms to identify a network of protected areas that best meets landscape conservation objectives.
1. Begin with the Videos
Each Practice Exercise begins with videos from author James D. Murdoch that 1) introduce the Practice Exercise and concepts involved; 2) explore and explain the concepts in depth; and 3) demonstrate tools used in the practical study of those concepts.
For each Chapter Practice Exercise, the student should watch these videos first!
Chapter 9 Video Topics: Protected Area Networks
- PrOACT (Problem, Objectives, Alternatives, Consequences, Trade-offs) decision-making process
- SMART (Simple Multi-Attribute Rating Technique) decision-making framework to score and rank areas under consideration for protection
- Using an optimization algorithm to find and identify a network of protected areas that best meets objectives
Download this spreadsheet, and use it as you follow along with the videos.
You can check your work using this completed spreadsheet.
2. Examine the Questions
Each Practice Exercise features a series of questions, which guide students through key questions and concepts.
Some questions may ask you to utilize different parts of the spreadsheet you used in the videos. They also provide a space to upload completed spreadsheets and to record any other responses or information requested.