Introduction to Decision Support Systems for Natural Resource Management

Natural resource decision-making has undergone dramatic transformation within the last decade. Much of this change is related to the widespread use and availability of geographic information systems (GIS). Resource managers now have the ability easily to locate and quantify essential habitats and resources, threats to those resources, and potential restoration opportunities by analyzing spatially referenced data in a GIS. Spatially referenced data has become essential in making well-informed and well-integrated decisions regarding natural resource protection in the context of rapidly transforming landscapes.

This emerging power of spatial data analysis and the increasing availability of spatially referenced data for the natural resource manager has created tremendous opportunity, but in many cases, it has dramatically increased the complexity of the decision-making process. Unfortunately, the process of using a GIS to bring all of this data to the table requires substantial time and expertise. Many times, manually running competing and alternative analyses can be prohibitively expensive and time-consuming. This is where Decision Support Systems (DSS) come in. A DSS helps users manage the complexity by automating the process of analyzing the relevant data, while allowing the manager to focus on the task of comparing alternative management objectives and solutions.

"Decision Support System" is a general term that is used to describe a wide variety of tools that facilitate decision-making. Decision support systems are used in almost every field from business to engineering to hazardous materials management. A discussion of the full range of decision support systems is beyond the scope of this Web site (see the links provided below for further exploration). The type of DSS that is most often used in natural resource management is a Spatial Decision Support System (SDSS). A SDSS is a piece of software that interfaces with a GIS to automate and summarize the results of spatial analyses, allowing managers easily to integrate biological data with other data (for example, demographic, social, geological, and hydrological) for natural resource decision-making. A SDSS automates much of the complexity of GIS analyses. Depending on the design of the user interface, GIS skills are not always necessary to use the tool. The SDSS allows the user easily to incorporate multiple sources of spatial data into a common analysis framework, thus streamlining this phase of the decision-making process.

A major advantage of a SDSS is that it allows for easy repetition of complicated analyses while providing a documentable and transparent approach to decision-making. Public relations problems can result when the community perceives that decisions are being made in a hidden or arbitrary and subjective way. A decision support system can enhance the openness and objectivity of decision-making processes, and thus engender the support and trust of the public.

Decision support systems are not a panacea. In the end, the results of any analysis, whether it is reached through traditional research and planning methods, or through the use of a decision support system, must be interpreted and evaluated to make what may still be difficult choices. Integration of a DSS within any traditional decision-making environment requires careful consideration of how the output from the DSS will be used. Decision support systems can be used as screening tools to narrow a set of alternatives and allow more intense evaluation of the most promising opportunities. This approach can reduce the expense of field analysis by providing greater focus on important field sites. The primary strength of a DSS is that it allows the user easily to explore alternative scenarios and analyses. In the end, it is still the role of the expert natural resource manager to determine which alternatives will best address the management decision at hand.

Spatial decision support tools often employ a type of model structure referred to as rule-based modeling. Rule-based models apply knowledge about the system in much the same way that a human expert would, while allowing the added computer-aided advantages of easy repeatability and transparency to the decision making process (that is, rendering into graphics and maps to facilitate understanding).

Rule-based models are based on a set of "if – then" statements that embody expert knowledge about a subject or system (for example, salmon response to the environment). These models are essentially computer codes that represent a hierarchically related rule network defining system function. These rule networks form the basic framework for decision-making within the system. To create a rule-based model, expert knowledge about a system is encoded into the software program as a set of rules (if-then statements) on how to interpret data describing a system. When the model is exposed to new data about the system, it will respond in a similar manner as the expert. This process of encoding expert knowledge is the first step in clarifying understanding of the system. The major advantage of the rule-based modeling approach is that it forces the decision-making process to become more transparent, quantifiable, and easily repeatable.

The Ecosystem Management Decision Support (EMDS) system is an example of a rule-based SDSS used by natural resource managers in ecological assessments. To learn more about it and how it is being used in salmonid recovery planning, go to the About the EMDS System section of this Web site. In addition, the following Web sites provide information about EMDS and other decision support system applications to natural resource decision-making.

EMDS: Knowledge Based Decision Support for Ecological Assessments

US Geological Survey, Biological Resources Division, decision support system resources

A spatial solution to ecological site classification for British forestry using ecosystem management decision support

California riparian evaluation system: an ArcView decision support tool for environmental management

A spatially explicit decision-support toolkit for Yellowstone-to-Yukon conservation

Biodiversity expert systems tool for county planners in Teton County, Wyoming

AI Depot – A Web site dedicated to the discussion of artificial intelligence, which includes information on rule based models and expert sytems