scholarly journals Selecting key areas for conservation at the regional level: the case of the globally ‘Near Threatened’ Cinereous Vulture Aegypius monachus in south-east Portugal

2012 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 168-183 ◽  
Author(s):  
PEDRO M. LOURENÇO ◽  
NUNO CURADO ◽  
FILIPA LOUREIRO ◽  
ALFONSO GODINO ◽  
EDUARDO SANTOS

SummarySince the resources available for nature conservation tend to be very limited, localised conservation actions are often the only feasible management option. Therefore, we must select key areas where these actions will be most effective. Here we used Weighted Linear Combination (WLC) to integrate various variables in a GIS environment and identify key areas for implementing conservation actions benefiting Cinereous Vultures Aegypius monachusin south-east Portugal. Through a bibliographic search, we selected four main variables and sub-variables related to land use, food availability, disturbance and topography. These were weighted for their relative importance using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and combined using WLC to obtain suitability maps for the best nesting and foraging sites for Cinereous Vultures. Overall, the study areas show moderate to high suitability as foraging areas for the species, but only a few small patches seem suitable as nesting sites. The use of GIS-based decision support systems, such as WLC, together with an objective method for weighting variables, like the AHP, allows for the integration of large amounts of cartographic information into suitability maps that can easily be used to select key areas for conservation at the regional level.

Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 3249
Author(s):  
Zhenfeng Shao ◽  
Zahid Jahangir ◽  
Qazi Muhammad Yasir ◽  
Atta-ur-Rahman ◽  
Shakeel Mahmood

Optimal site selection of a dam is one of the crucial tasks in water resource management. In this study, a dam suitability stream model (DSSM) is utilized to identify potential sites for constructing multi-purpose dams. In DSSM, each input parameter is weighted using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP), and then weighted overlay analysis is performed in a Geographical Information System (GIS) environment. Compared to the previous studies, this study showed different results based on the crucial parameter that is “stream order”. Two resultant site suitability maps are prepared to differentiate the importance of stream order. Each of the resulting maps visualizes four classes of suitability from highly suitable to least suitable. The proposed sites will store water for a variety of uses at the local and regional level and reduce flood risk, which can be very useful for hydrologists and disaster risk managers.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 6287
Author(s):  
Suyeon Kim ◽  
Sang-Woo Lee ◽  
Se-Rin Park ◽  
Yeeun Shin ◽  
Kyungjin An

It is imperative to develop a methodology to identify river impairment sources, particularly the relative impact of socioeconomic sources, to enhance the efficiency of various river restoration schemes and policies and to have an internal diagnosis system in place. This study, therefore, aims to identify and analyze the relative importance of the socioeconomic factors affecting river ecosystem impairment in South Korea. To achieve this goal, we applied the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) to evaluate expert judgement of the relative importance of different socioeconomic factors influencing river ecosystem impairment. Based on a list of socioeconomic factors influencing stream health, an AHP questionnaire was prepared and administered to experts in aquatic ecology. Our analysis reveals that secondary industries form the most significant source of stream ecosystem impairment. Moreover, the most critical socioeconomic factors affecting stream impairment are direct inflow pollution, policy implementation, and industrial wastewater. The results also suggest that the AHP is a rapid and robust approach to assessing the relative importance of different socioeconomic factors that affect river ecosystem health. The results can be used to assist decision makers in focusing on actions to improve river ecosystem health.


2012 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 80-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chintala Venkateswarlu ◽  
A. K. Birru

Quality function deployment (QFD) is a methodology that extracts client demands (CDs) and inducting them in the final service/product. Once CDs are extracted from client the traditional QFD approach uses absolute importance to identify the degree of importance for each CD. Direct evaluation of CDs based on absolute weighting without tradeoffs is easy to perform, but may lead to serious deviations from reality. An alternative to avoid this problem is to adopt the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) approach. In this paper, an integrated model combining AHP and QFD has been delineated as a quality achievement tool in healthcare. A case study is performed on the healthcare services provided by government general hospital, Indore District, Madhya Pradesh, India and data has been analyzed to benchmark the proposed framework by computing the degree of relative importance for CDs through AHP and incorporating them in subsequent deployment matrices.


2020 ◽  
Vol 71 (05) ◽  
pp. 487-491
Author(s):  
MOHAMED BEN HASSEN ◽  
MOHAMED TAHER HALIM ◽  
EMAD ABUALSAUOD ◽  
ASEM OTHMAN

The yarn quality depends on many parameters: characteristics parameters, mechanical and physical properties. Making the hypothesis that the quality of the yarn is a multicriteria problem, in this paper, we propose a new method to determine the Quality Yarn Index QYI based on Analytic Hierarchy Process AHP and Fuzzy theory. A questionnaire was designed for experts of each field (weaving and knitting) to evaluate the relative importance for each property to determine coefficients of the AHP matrix. Results revealed that matrix coefficients changed with yarn application (weft or warp weaving and knitting) The QYI can be used in any application, where a rapid decision is needed, to evaluate the global quality of yarn and to make a comparison between different yarn qualities


2012 ◽  
Vol 518-523 ◽  
pp. 4466-4472 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hao Zhang ◽  
Wei Xia Li ◽  
Cheng Yi Zhang

In this paper, the definition of additive consistent intuitionistic fuzzy complementary judgement matrix (ACIFCJM) was given; The addition and subtraction algorithms of intuitionistic fuzzy value representing the relative importance degree in the matrix were given, then the definition of the scale transition matrix of intuitionistic fuzzy complementary judgement matrix (IFCJM) was given; The additive consistency recursive iterative adjustment algorithm about the IFCJM was given, then priority vectors formula of IFCJM was introduced; At last, the steps of intuitionistic fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (IFAHP) were introduced, then the method was applied in actual examples, and its effectiveness was verified.


2015 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 271-282 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yasmin Mohd ADNAN ◽  
Md Nasir DAUD ◽  
Muhammad Najib MOHAMED RAZALI

In order to mitigate the anticipated oversupply of office space, it is necessary to gauge the preference of office occupiers, namely tenants of purpose built office buildings, since these tenants form the indicator of demand for space. In this study, a multi-criteria decision making method (MCDM) – the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) procedure was employed to analyse the relative importance of the main factors chosen by the main sectors of tenants at top grade office buildings in Kuala Lumpur city centre. This study had identified the elicitation of experts’ opinion and tenants’ selection comprises twenty-six important factors for office occupation in Kuala Lumpur city centre, grouped under four main categories: Location, Lease, Building and Financial/Cost. This study then employed AHP to assess the relative importance placed on each category, revealing the varying patterns of preferences when tested on tenants from three main business sectors occupying top grade office buildings. The findings showed that, between the three sectors (Finance/Banking, ICT & Media and Oil & Gas), differences in preference were only slight for most factors but were significant for a few. The findings from this study are insightful in informing decisions on future office provision, particularly in the context of working towards satisfying office tenants’ requirements.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document