SPATIAL CONSERVATION PRIORITIZATION: CONCEPTS, METHODS AND APPLICATIONS
From May 16, until May 19, 2022 - CIBIO-InBIO, Vairão, Portugal
(The course will take place in a classroom context)
Spatial
conservation prioritization is a relatively new field which uses spatial data
and quantitative techniques to support decision-making. Several methods and
tools have been developed, two of the most popular being Marxan and Zonation,
which solve two different mathematical problems: the minimum set and the maximal
coverage, respectively.
This course aims to
1) introduce the main concepts
underpinning spatial conservation prioritization;
2) distinguish the two major
conservation problems: minimum set and the maximal coverage;
3) develop
computational skills to use Marxan and Zonation programs;
4) Provide insights
about different applications of these methods.
PROGRAMME:
Day 1
Morning - 9h45 – 12h45
Welcome
Introducing the lecturers, students, practical arrangements
What to expect from the course
Overview of the program
Preparing for the practical exercises
Installing R, R Studio, required R packages, QGIS and plugin CLUZ, Marxan and Zonation
Copying the exercise files from Dropbox to your local drive
Lecture1 – Spatial Conservation Prioritization
Convention on Biologic Diversity, and the Aichi Targets, the post-2020 Biodiversity Framework
The importance of space in conservation and restoration
Protected areas as a conservation tool
Systematic Conservation Planning: history and core principles
Mathematical characterization of conservation prioritization problems: minimum set vs maximal coverage
Types of conservation features: ecoregions, habitats, species distributions, phylogenetic, genetic and genomic data. Data sources.
Types and examples of spatial data used in conservation prioritization: point, polygon, raster
Practical – Introduction to spatial data and spatial analysis in R
Types of spatial data – vector and raster data
Import and process vector data
Importing and process raster data
Convert between vector and raster formats
Data projection systems and conversions
Afternoon - 14h45-17h45
Lecture 2– Introduction to Marxan
The Marxan objective function
Introduction to Marxan optimization - simulating annealing
Marxan´s input and output files
Practical – Understanding the Marxan algorithm
Optimization exercise with Excel
Day 2
Morning - 9h45 – 12h45
Practical - Using Marxan Software (part I)
Creating the planning Unit file (Pu.dat)
Creating the planning unit versus species matrix (puvsp.dat)
Using R with point (Gbif), polygon (IUCN) and raster (maxent .asc outputs) distribution data
Creating the species file (spec.dat)
Creating the boundary length file (bound.dat)
Afternoon - 14h45-17h45
Practical – Using Marxan Software (part II)
Run Marxan through R
Understand and calibrate Marxan parameters and interpret outputs
Display Marxan output and Interpret solutions
Design of planning scenarios: lock in/ out planning units, costs and connectivity
Import Marxan solutions to R for future analysis
Day 3
Morning - 9h45 – 12h45
Lecture 3 – Connectivity in spatial conservation prioritization
The importance of accounting for connectivity in spatial prioritization
Types of connectivity – Boundary Length, asymmetrical, longitudinal, lateral connectivity
Different ways to incorporate connectivity data in Marxan
Practical – Using Marxan Sofware (part III)
Create boundary files for different types of connectivity: asymmetrical, longitudinal and lateral
Run Marxan and exploring different results
Afternoon - 14h45-17h45
Lecture 4 –The Zonation framework
The Zonation framework
Zonation Meta-algorithm and cell-removal rules
Zonation Input and output files
Connectivity in Zonation: boundary length penalty, distribution smoothing, boundary quality penalty, directed connectivity, matrix connectivity, edge adjustment in connectivity
Using Zonation to spatial prioritization spanning the evolutionary continuum
Practical– Running Zonation (Part I)
Create Zonation input files
Run Zonation through command line
Day 4
Morning - 9h45 – 12h45
Practical– Running Zonation (Part II)
Analyze Zonation results: compare results with different cell-removal rules, connectivity options and biodiversity levels
Modify input files to accommodate phylogenetic diversity and intra-specific variation
Afternoon - 14h45-17h45
Practical– Running Zonation (Part III)
Post processing analysis and options
Discussion and Conclusions
Hours: 24
SCHEDULE
9:45am to 17:45pm, lunch between 12:45-14:45
COURSE INSTRUCTORS
Silvia Carvalho (Coordinator) | CIBIO-InBIO | THEOECO/ BIODESERTS
Pedro Tarroso | CIBIO-InBIO | BIODESERTS
Virgilio Hermoso | University of Sevilla
INTENDED AUDIENCE
The course will be open to a maximum number of 20 participants.
SELECTION CRITERIA
75% of available student slots are reserved for BIODIV students.
Priority will be given to:
• 1st year and other PhD students attending the BIODIV Doctoral Program;
• PhD students attending other courses;
• Other post-graduate students and researchers.
REGISTRATION
Participation is free of charge for BIODIV students | 80€ (students) | 150€ (other participants). CIBIO-InBIO members will have an additional discount of 20%.
Please note the rules apply for all BIODIV students
APPLICATIONS DATES
Registration deadline: March 31, 2022
All applicants will be notified about whether they are accepted until April 11, 2022
Fill out the application form and confirm that the following message appears: