.png){kind=icon}
Instructions for Exploring the Conservation Biology Practice Exercises
This chapter of the Second Edition of Conservation Biology concludes with a Practice Exercise, which provides students the opportunity to learn and apply research skills and concepts related to the chapter content.
Chapter 7 Practice Exercise: Multicriteria Decision Analysis
Conservation decisions are often challenging not only because they involve many stakeholders who have different values, but also because they require evaluation of trade-offs among social, economic, and ecological goals. Practitioners must learn how to consider different stakeholder values while evaluating trade-offs to understand how alternative decisions compare to each other and to determine which alternative is best. Use the tutorial videos and spreadsheet exercises to practice multi-criteria decision analyses, which is a fundamental framework for considering multiple goals and trade-offs in conservation decision-making.
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 7–Video Topics: Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis
Unlike most previous chapters, this video focuses on a case study that uses multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) to address a forest management issue. The case study is a paper published in the Journal of Environmental Management. We used the case study to walk through and explain MCDA and how it applies to decision-making. We then follow with a second video that develops an MCDA in a spreadsheet.
- Multi-criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA)
- Normalizing Data
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.