Biologists of the Georgia DNR Bobwhite Quail Initiative will meet with researchers from the University of Georgia, Georgia Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Unit, and Patuxent Wildlife Research Center to discuss the implementation of BQI within an adaptive management framework.  The purposes of this workshop are to (1) introduce the concepts of formal adaptive management through examples, and (2) gather ideas on how to cast the BQI program elements (i.e., objectives and decision alternatives), as well as the principal uncertainties within that program, into a model-based adaptive decision framework.

Summary of the workshop

Return to BQI-ARM home page
 

Proposed schedule

8:30 - 9:30 AM
1. Overview of ARM - How uncertainty complicates decision making; ARM - making best decisions under uncertainty through formal integration of objectives, decision alternatives, modeling, and monitoring; example(s) -- Clint

9:45 - 11:30 AM
2. Management objectives

a. Introduction, concepts, examples -- Mike
b. BQI objectives - Creation of a management objective that (a) is directly tied to the resource(s) of interest, (b) is a quantity for which prediction models can be developed, (c) is measurable in the field, and (d) is expressed over an appropriate time frame. -- Mike, Reggie, Rick

(1) Scale of assessment: field, focus area, statewide
(2) Habitat vs population-oriented objectives
(3) Balancing single-species and bird community objectives

12:30 - 1:45 PM
3. Decision alternatives

a. Introduction, concepts, examples -- Clint
b. Decision alternatives available within BQI - Maybe useful to ask: with respect to an individual field, what would be done differently if quail were abundant in the field and throughout the landscape vs. rare? -- John, Reggie

(1) Scales: field, landscape, focus area, statewide
(2) Connection between enrollment criteria and population status

a. Introduction, concepts, examples -- Clint
b. What are biggest uncertainties in quail/songbird recovery? -- Mike, John, Rick

(1) Productivity vs movement response by birds
(2) Isolation vs clustering of enrolled fields
(3) Borders vs strips; linear vs area practices

Seminar on Decision Analysis Under Uncertainty
 

Applied Population Dynamics (includes material on Adaptive Management)
 

Adaptive Harvest Management (General principles)
 

Adaptive Harvest Management for American Black Ducks