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Marxan and terrestrial

conservation planning
An example from western NSW

Jessica Sushinsky, Richard Fuller, Michael Drielsma, James Watson,


Robert Taylor, Jill Smith, and Hugh Possingham

Marxan analysis
Define the problem
 Plan the analysis
 Gather and process data


Planning units
Conservation features
Cost, clumping, targets, etc.


Interpret and apply results

The problem


Woodlands subject to
heavy clearing.
Declines in biodiversity

How do we restore and


protect biodiversity?
Limited budget, data,
options, and time

Report commissioned
by NSW Department of
Environment, Climate
Change and Water
(DECC)

Biodiversity Research and Management Division


NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service

The region


Western Woodlands
Way (WWW)
75,425 km2
located in the sheepwheat belt of north
western NSW

Region is a mix of
conservation
reserves, agricultural
land, and small urban
areas.

The plan


Develop a large scale conservation plan


that will allow for the recovery and
persistence of woodland-dependent
species in WWW.
Increase extent of woodland habitat for
threatened, woodland-dependent species.
Increase connectivity across the landscape.

Use Marxan to identify the best areas for


restoration effort in WWW.

Planning units
Based on a cadastral
map (2006) of all
properties within
WWW.
 Set status of planning
units according to
objectives.
 Result was 3582
planning units available
for selection.


Conservation features



40 woodland-dependent species.
Point location data from the Atlas
of New South Wales Wildlife
(provided by DECC).
Created current and historic
species distribution models.
Using the modelling software Maxent

Historic distributions gave an


estimate of how suitable cleared
land would be if it was restored.
Used to calculate amount in the
puvsspr2 input file

Cost
Cost assigned to each
planning unit was the
cost of restoration.
 Restoration cost
based on rateable
value of the land.


Cost acquisition data


layer developed by
Carwardine, et al.
cost per
planning unit

Clumping


Increasing connectivity across the


landscape was one of our main objectives.
Used Boundary Length Modifier (BLM) to
control clumping

Higher BLM means a more compact


reserve system.
 Tested a range of BLMs to decide which
to apply.


Boundary Length Modifier

Results


The best solution


included1402
properties.
11,379km2

All but 2 species met


their target area.
 Concentration of
properties in north.


Connecting existing
habitat.


Some selected
properties already
covered by native
woodland.

Application


Data summaries for each


CMA.
Implementation at this level.

First phase of a large,


multipart analysis.
 Properties selected
subject to a fine scale
analysis.


Metapopulation models.


Implementation will
involve working with land
owners.
Re-run Marxan with new PU
status data.

Lessons
Marxan is flexible and can be used in
some creative ways.
 Marxan is a powerful tool but the context
of the problem is important.


Establish and stick to objectives




The best solution isnt the end point it


should be analysed further and applied in
context.

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