Optimizing Reserve Design in Alberta's Oil Sands Region
Author Information
Author(s): Richard R. Schneider, Grant Hauer, Dan Farr, W. L. Adamowicz, Stan Boutin
Primary Institution: University of Alberta
Hypothesis
How can conservation gains be achieved while considering economic opportunity costs in reserve design?
Conclusion
The study demonstrates that over 30% of public lands in Alberta could be protected while maintaining access to more than 97% of the region's resource value.
Supporting Evidence
- The study found that the relationship between ecological representation targets and opportunity costs is nonlinear.
- More than half of the planning units in the reserve system were consistently selected in the model runs.
- The study suggests that optimization techniques can effectively minimize conservation costs when resource value variance is high.
Takeaway
The researchers found a way to protect a lot of land in Alberta while still allowing for most of the valuable resources to be used.
Methodology
The study used trade-off analysis and the Marxan conservation planning software to explore the relationship between conservation targets and economic opportunity costs.
Limitations
The study's findings are based on specific assumptions about opportunity costs and may not account for all ecological design elements.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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