Adaptive Management and Decision Support Science

The application of science to inform natural resource management is a central organizing theme of USGS and of all science within Department of the Interior (DOI). Building bridges between natural resource management and the science that informs that management is critical to making informed decisions about natural resources that can sustain our Nation's economic and environmental well-being. Strategic conservation of imperiled species faces several major challenges including uncertainty in species response to management actions, budgetary constraints that limit options, and the need to scale expected conservation benefits from local to landscape levels and from single to multiple species. Researchers at Leetown Science Center are working with DOI partners on applying structured decision analysis to inform imperiled species conservation.