Priority Setting for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services

Prioritizing land for conservation often competes with other societal objectives, such as housing developments, recreation, agricultural or industrial development, and resource extraction. The number of potentially competing objectives can complicate conservation planning decisions. Although there are potential tradeoffs among conservation for biodiversity, ecosystem services (ecological processes benefiting people), and economic costs, a systemic planning framework can help to identify synergies. By comparing alternative options for prioritizing conservation efforts, tradeoffs among various objectives can be evaluated, including conserving biodiversity, supplying ecosystem services, and minimizing costs. Herein, the recent research that is advancing these frontiers is described.