Browsing by Subject "site selection"

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    Analyzing conservation-siting decisions and spillover effects in North Carolina
    (2020-04-20) Jain, Shivangi
    Land conservation is used to protect a variety of vulnerable ecosystem services and land uses in the United States and around the world. As of 2019, 12% of the total land in the US was protected for conservation by private actors and public agencies. Strategies to select land for conservation consider a host of factors – the benefits protected by conserving land, the cost of implementing conservation, and the risk of future development if land remains unprotected. The two primary tools for conserving land, fee-simple acquisitions and conservation easements, differ in the level of protection they afford, their implementation costs, and their impact on development risk. Using data from Durham County in North Carolina, I explore how the two tools may be used to protect different types of land and how their use may have spillover effects on surrounding land values. A better understanding of the kinds of land being conserved and their spillover effects can inform future land conservation strategies for improved conservation benefits.
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    ItemOpen Access
    Nesting Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) Habitat Site Selection and Management Using GIS
    (2008-04-25T16:33:05Z) Strauss, Ben
    Ducks Unlimited’s Saginaw Bay priority zone in eastern Michigan is highly concentrated area of wetland habitat patches. A set of criteria to prioritize these wetlands is needed so that managers can most effectively decide where to focus conservation efforts in the area. Nesting mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) pairs were chosen as the target species to base conservation decisions on. A GIS based model was created using a series on inputs including distance to development, distance to existing reserves, state acquisition areas, wetland density, the Habitat Evaluation Network, and habitat connectivity. This model produced a visual representation of the best wetland patches for mallard populations. It can be easily modified to accommodate different species or criteria, and can be effectively be used by managers to make future conservation decisions.