Introduction to linked and dynamic decisions

Often, a decision maker is faced with a series of linked decisions, rather than an isolated one-off decision. In natural resource management, it is common to make a similar type of decision on a regular basis (e.g., annually). Such linked decisions have two important properties: they are dynamic, that is, the actions taken early on affect immediate outcomes as well as the effects of actions taken later; and they may be adaptive, that is, early actions might generate learning that can be applied to later actions. This situation has given rise to the development of methods for adaptive management. This chapter provides an overview of the decision analytical methods available to support framing and solving dynamic decisions, and briefly reviews the case studies that follow.