A Decision Support System for Watershed-Scale Management of Ecosystem Services using Evolutionary Algorithms

In this paper, we present a web-based decision support system (DSS)—wSADfLOR—to facilitate the access of stakeholders to tools that may contribute to enhancing forest management planning. The emphasis is on a web-based architecture and a web graphic user interface (wGUI) that may effectively support the analysis of trade-offs between ecosystem services in order to address participatory and sustainable forest management objectives. For that purpose, the wGUI provides remote access to a management information system, enabling users to analyze environmental and biometric data and topological information as well. Moreover, the wGUI provides remote access to forest simulators so that users may define and simulate prescriptions such as chronological sequences of management options and the corresponding forest ecosystem services outcomes. Remote access to management planning methods is further provided so that users may input their objectives and constraints. The wGUI delivers information about tradeoffs between ecosystem services in the form of decision maps so that users in different locations may negotiate bundles of ecosystem services as well as the plan needed to provide them. The multiple criteria programming routines provide proposals for management plans that may be assessed further, using geographical and alphanumeric information provided by the wGUI. Results for an application to a forested landscape extending to 14,388 ha are presented and discussed. This landscape provides several ecosystem services and the development of its management plan involves multiple stakeholders. Results show that the web-based architecture and the wGUI provide effective access for stakeholders to information about the forest management planning area and to decision support tools that may contribute to addressing complex multi-objective and multiple-decision-maker management planning contexts. They also highlight that the involvement and participation of stakeholders in the design of the web-based architecture contributes to assuring the quality and the usability of the system.

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A Decision Support System for Phosphorus Management at a Watershed Scale

Journal of Environmental Quality ◽

10.2134/jeq2002.0937 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 31 (3) ◽

pp. 937 ◽

Cited By ~ 26

Author(s):

Faruk Djodjic ◽

Hubert Montas ◽

Adel Shirmohammadi ◽

Lars Bergström ◽

Barbro Ulén

Keyword(s):

Decision Support ◽

Decision Support System ◽

Support System ◽

Watershed Scale

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Combining Decision Support Approaches for Optimizing the Selection of Bundles of Ecosystem Services

10.20944/preprints201805.0349.v1 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Marco Marto ◽

Keith M. Reynolds ◽

José G. Borges ◽

Vladimir Bushenkov ◽

Susete Marques

Keyword(s):

Decision Support ◽

Ecosystem Services ◽

Decision Support System ◽

Decision Analysis ◽

Support System ◽

Pareto Frontier ◽

Strength Of Evidence ◽

Spatial Logic ◽

Alternative Solutions ◽

Selection Of

This study examines the potential of combining decision support approaches to identify optimal bundles of ecosystem services. A forested landscape, Zona de Intervenção Florestal of Paiva and Entre-Douro and Sousa (Portugal), is used to test and demonstrate this potential. The landscape extends over 14,000 ha, representing 1,976 stands. The property is fragmented into 376 holdings. The overall analysis was performed in three steps. First, we selected six alternative solutions (A to F) in a Pareto frontier generated by a multiple criteria method within a decision support system (SADfLOR) for subsequent analysis. Next, an aspatial strategic multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) analysis was performed with the Criterium DecisionPlus (CDP) component of another decision support system (EMDS) to assess the aggregate performance of solutions A to F for the entire forested landscape with respect to their utility for delivery of ecosystem services. For the CDP analysis, SADfLOR data inputs were grouped into two sets of primary criteria: Wood Harvested and Other Ecosystem Services. Finally, a spatial logic-based assessment of solutions A to F for individual stands of the study area was performed with the NetWeaver component of EMDS. The NetWeaver model was structurally and computationally equivalent to the CDP model, but the key NetWeaver metric is a measure of the strength of evidence that solutions for specific land stands were optimal for the unit. Solutions D and B performed best in the aspatial strategic MCDA analysis, and a composite of the maps generated by NetWeaver demonstrated the spatial basis for the performance of solutions D and B in individual land stands. We conclude with a discussion of how the combination of decision support approaches encapsulated in the two systems could be further automated.

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A transnational cooperation for sustainable use and management of non-native trees in urban, peri-urban and forest ecosystems in the Alpine region (ALPTREES)

Research Ideas and Outcomes ◽

10.3897/rio.6.e53038 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 6 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Katharina Lapin ◽

Anja Bindewald ◽

Florian Kraxner ◽

Aleksander Marinšek ◽

Nicola La Porta ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Decision Support ◽

Ecosystem Services ◽

Decision Support System ◽

Support System ◽

Best Management Practices ◽

Potential Distribution ◽

Management Practices ◽

Invasive Potential ◽

Risks And Benefits ◽

Comprehensive Database

The expected benefits and potential risks of non-native tree species (NNT) to European geographic regions have polarized the opinions of experts and citizens. Benefits include climate change (CC) mitigation and adaptation, contributions to bioeconomy, urban and peri-urban green infrastructure and mitigation of natural hazards. However, NNT may become invasive and thus may pose risks to native biodiversity, ecosystem functioning or socio-economy. In critical and vulnerable ecosystems such as the Alpine Space (AS), such risks and benefits must be carefully considered before management decisions are made. Experiences in the management of NNT in urban areas, peri-urban, rural territories and forests are often region- or city-specific and rarely shared. Given the challenges in NNT management with respect to both benefits and risks, an European transnational approach is needed to qualify the role of NNT in future AS ecosystems. The objective is to provide a transnational strategy for a responsible use and sustainable management of NNT in the AS with the help of an integrated Decision Support System. The project fits within the context of national and regional site-derived policy aiming at protecting and enhancing biodiversity to ensure ecological connectivity and cultural resources while maintaining a high level of resilience and ecosystem services across the AS. Implementation activities of the ALPTREES project include developing a comprehensive database on NNT, projecting the current and potential distribution of NNT in the AS under CC scenarios determining their invasive potential and analyzing the different ecosystem services provided by NNT to assess the tradeoffs between risks and benefits. developing a comprehensive database on NNT, projecting the current and potential distribution of NNT in the AS under CC scenarios determining their invasive potential and analyzing the different ecosystem services provided by NNT to assess the tradeoffs between risks and benefits. ALPTREES will formulate management recommendations for NNT under different climate and economic scenarios based on experience from sample plots combined with model projections, citizen science, and multiple stakeholder meetings. With the help of policy briefs, a handbook of lessons learned, transnational pilot actions for best management practices, and an inter-active online Decision Support System a close stakeholder interaction and -benefit will be ensured Another innovative output of the project is the Open ALPTREES Knowledge Hub, that will support the transnational and interdisciplinary knowledge transfer.

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