bcmca ca/document-library/) During the Marxan experts workshop,

bcmca.ca/document-library/). During the Marxan experts workshop, selleck chemicals a new tool called Marxan with Zones [12] was recommended for running analyses incorporating human use data. At

that time BCMCA decided it was not feasible to use Marxan with Zones due to the learning curve, time constraints and the unproven nature of the new tool. Instead, all the human use scenarios were designed to use Marxan to identify areas important to human use by exploring what happens to the footprint if uses were reduced. Targets for ecological features are intended to quantify the amount required to meet ecological objectives. At the ecological workshops, experts were requested to recommend a range

of targets for each feature, spanning a minimum to preferred amount selleck screening library (see Ban et al. [18] for details). Workshops were attended by regional species experts who drew upon their own experience and knowledge to recommend targets. Targets for physical classification and representation features were proposed by the Project Team and reviewed by experts. During data review, workshop experts and data providers were given a chance to view the collated spatial data, and were asked to review target recommendations and provide targets for any features lacking an established target range. Any targets still missing after the review were systematically assigned by the Project Team. An unanticipated result of asking experts to recommend targets through separate workshops was that values differed greatly among ecological themes (e.g., recommended seabirds targets differed from marine plant targets and invertebrate targets, etc). The BCMCA Project Team decided to illustrate solutions for three added “What if…?” scenarios using

consistent targets for features in all ecological themes. Target ranges for these scenarios were collaboratively set by the BCMCA Project Team after consulting best practices, peer-reviewed scientific literature and the advice of the ecological experts ( Fig. 1). Marxan scenarios were run using low, medium and high target values for Liothyronine Sodium both the expert-recommended and Project Team target ranges in order to visually display the impact that targets have on the footprint of the Marxan solutions. To incorporate human use features, the Project Team initially suggested running Marxan for ecological features, using human uses as a ‘cost’, as is commonly done in Marxan analyses [21]. Alternately, an option was to set targets for human use features, which tells Marxan how much of each feature to include in the solution (i.e., to identify areas of important for all human uses, as per [13]).

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