Moving the Goalposts: Possible Effects of Changes in Opportunity Costs on Conservation Triage

Paul Woodcock; Matthew Hayward

doi:10.3389/fevo.2016.00113

Moving the Goalposts: Possible Effects of Changes in Opportunity Costs on Conservation Triage

Paul Woodcock
, Matthew Hayward

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Abstract

Theresourcesrequiredtohaltbiodiversitydeclinesareestimatedtobemanytimesmorethancurrentinvestment,underpinningcallstoincreasefinancialsupportforconservation,andtodevelopmethodsforallocatingfundsmoreefficiently(McCarthyetal.,2012;McDonaldetal.,2015).Conservationtriageisanimportantpartofthelatterstrategy,withproponentsarguingthatbyexplicitlyprioritizingresourcestowardtargets(e.g.,particularspeciesorpopulations)identifiedasgeneratingthegreatestbenefitsforagiveninvestment,triageavoidsusingresourcesoncasesinwhichconservationeffortisunlikelytomakeadifference(i.e.,improvementisunlikelyorisnear-certainirrespectiveofinvestment;Bottrilletal.,2008;Schneideretal.,2010;Gerber,2016).However,triagehasbeencriticizedonseveralgrounds,suchaspotentiallysignalingtodecision-makersthatsomeextinctionsorpopulationlossesareacceptable,andthescientific,ethical,andpracticalargumentshavebeendebatedwithoutreachingclearconsensus(Bottrilletal.,2008;JachowskiandKesler,2008;Parretal.,2008).Ourprimaryaimhereisnottorevisitthesearguments,buttohighlightanadditionalissue—thepotentialforsubstantial,unforeseenchangesinthefuturecostsofconservation—andinvestigatehowthisissuemightaffecttriageandnon-triageapproaches.
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Original language	English
Journal	Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution
Volume	4
Issue number	113
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2016.00113
Publication status	Published - 28 Sept 2016

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fevo-04-00113Final published version, 86.1 KBLicence: CC BY

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title = "Moving the Goalposts: Possible Effects of Changes in Opportunity Costs on Conservation Triage",

abstract = "Theresourcesrequiredtohaltbiodiversitydeclinesareestimatedtobemanytimesmorethancurrentinvestment,underpinningcallstoincreasefinancialsupportforconservation,andtodevelopmethodsforallocatingfundsmoreefficiently(McCarthyetal.,2012;McDonaldetal.,2015).Conservationtriageisanimportantpartofthelatterstrategy,withproponentsarguingthatbyexplicitlyprioritizingresourcestowardtargets(e.g.,particularspeciesorpopulations)identifiedasgeneratingthegreatestbenefitsforagiveninvestment,triageavoidsusingresourcesoncasesinwhichconservationeffortisunlikelytomakeadifference(i.e.,improvementisunlikelyorisnear-certainirrespectiveofinvestment;Bottrilletal.,2008;Schneideretal.,2010;Gerber,2016).However,triagehasbeencriticizedonseveralgrounds,suchaspotentiallysignalingtodecision-makersthatsomeextinctionsorpopulationlossesareacceptable,andthescientific,ethical,andpracticalargumentshavebeendebatedwithoutreachingclearconsensus(Bottrilletal.,2008;JachowskiandKesler,2008;Parretal.,2008).Ourprimaryaimhereisnottorevisitthesearguments,buttohighlightanadditionalissue—thepotentialforsubstantial,unforeseenchangesinthefuturecostsofconservation—andinvestigatehowthisissuemightaffecttriageandnon-triageapproaches. CHANGES",

author = "Paul Woodcock and Matthew Hayward",

note = "MH was supported by the Centre for African Conservation Ecology, Nelson Mandela University.",

year = "2016",

month = sep,

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doi = "10.3389/fevo.2016.00113",

language = "English",

volume = "4",

journal = "Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution",

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T1 - Moving the Goalposts

T2 - Possible Effects of Changes in Opportunity Costs on Conservation Triage

AU - Woodcock, Paul

AU - Hayward, Matthew

N1 - MH was supported by the Centre for African Conservation Ecology, Nelson Mandela University.

PY - 2016/9/28

Y1 - 2016/9/28

N2 - Theresourcesrequiredtohaltbiodiversitydeclinesareestimatedtobemanytimesmorethancurrentinvestment,underpinningcallstoincreasefinancialsupportforconservation,andtodevelopmethodsforallocatingfundsmoreefficiently(McCarthyetal.,2012;McDonaldetal.,2015).Conservationtriageisanimportantpartofthelatterstrategy,withproponentsarguingthatbyexplicitlyprioritizingresourcestowardtargets(e.g.,particularspeciesorpopulations)identifiedasgeneratingthegreatestbenefitsforagiveninvestment,triageavoidsusingresourcesoncasesinwhichconservationeffortisunlikelytomakeadifference(i.e.,improvementisunlikelyorisnear-certainirrespectiveofinvestment;Bottrilletal.,2008;Schneideretal.,2010;Gerber,2016).However,triagehasbeencriticizedonseveralgrounds,suchaspotentiallysignalingtodecision-makersthatsomeextinctionsorpopulationlossesareacceptable,andthescientific,ethical,andpracticalargumentshavebeendebatedwithoutreachingclearconsensus(Bottrilletal.,2008;JachowskiandKesler,2008;Parretal.,2008).Ourprimaryaimhereisnottorevisitthesearguments,buttohighlightanadditionalissue—thepotentialforsubstantial,unforeseenchangesinthefuturecostsofconservation—andinvestigatehowthisissuemightaffecttriageandnon-triageapproaches. CHANGES

AB - Theresourcesrequiredtohaltbiodiversitydeclinesareestimatedtobemanytimesmorethancurrentinvestment,underpinningcallstoincreasefinancialsupportforconservation,andtodevelopmethodsforallocatingfundsmoreefficiently(McCarthyetal.,2012;McDonaldetal.,2015).Conservationtriageisanimportantpartofthelatterstrategy,withproponentsarguingthatbyexplicitlyprioritizingresourcestowardtargets(e.g.,particularspeciesorpopulations)identifiedasgeneratingthegreatestbenefitsforagiveninvestment,triageavoidsusingresourcesoncasesinwhichconservationeffortisunlikelytomakeadifference(i.e.,improvementisunlikelyorisnear-certainirrespectiveofinvestment;Bottrilletal.,2008;Schneideretal.,2010;Gerber,2016).However,triagehasbeencriticizedonseveralgrounds,suchaspotentiallysignalingtodecision-makersthatsomeextinctionsorpopulationlossesareacceptable,andthescientific,ethical,andpracticalargumentshavebeendebatedwithoutreachingclearconsensus(Bottrilletal.,2008;JachowskiandKesler,2008;Parretal.,2008).Ourprimaryaimhereisnottorevisitthesearguments,buttohighlightanadditionalissue—thepotentialforsubstantial,unforeseenchangesinthefuturecostsofconservation—andinvestigatehowthisissuemightaffecttriageandnon-triageapproaches. CHANGES

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JO - Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution

JF - Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution

IS - 113

ER -

Moving the Goalposts: Possible Effects of Changes in Opportunity Costs on Conservation Triage

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