In data-limited situations, stakeholder advice can help shore-up your conservation solutions

In areas without robust surveys of species distributions, proxies are often used to estimate where marine flora and fauna reside. The authors tested a number of environmental proxies to see how well they could be used to predict both the distribution and abundance of species, using the Solitary Islands Marine Park in south-eastern Australia as a case study. Merging the outputs from both species- and habitat-oriented models with stakeholder advice is likely the best bet for planning conservation actions in data-limited situations.