Developing a Decision-Making Framework for Assisted Migration: Applying this to the American Pika and Whitebark Pine

Author

Mia Kimya Hedayat-Zedah

Year of Award

2020

Document Type

Professional Paper

Degree Type

Master of Science (MS)

Degree Name

Environmental Studies

Department or School/College

Environmental Studies Program

Subject Categories

Arts and Humanities

Abstract

ABSTRACT

Hedayat-Zadeh, Mai Kimya, Degree, May 2020 Environmental Studies

Developing a Decision-Making Framework for Assisted Migration: Applying this to the

American Pika and White Bark Pine

This paper analyzes a novel conservation strategy: assisted migration (AM). AM is the practice of moving a highly vulnerable (i.e., endangered) species impacted by climate change and other exacerbating factors (e.g., land use), out of its historic range to a recipient site. Ideally, this site would be one where the species would have migrated, were there no barriers to dispersal or anthropogenic stressors. The paper is concerned with the readiness of the conservation community—particularly land managers—to implement a decision-making framework for AM. As such, the author reviews existing frameworks, both conceptual and statistical, and presents a step-by-step qualitative framework of her own that encompasses the ecological, legal, social and ethical dimensions of the AM strategy. The framework acknowledges that AM will likely occur in concert with other interventions of varying intensity (e.g., maintenance of habitat quality, restoration, and genetic rescue). The author acknowledges the limits of species distribution models (SDMs), a key tool to assess species vulnerability, which is the prerequisite of candidacy for AM. The author concludes that ecological theory— particularly concepts such as ‘adaptive capacity’ and the ‘evolutionary niche’—must better inform the design of models. An overview of modelling pitfalls, including the coarseness of climate data, data surveyed at differing resolutions or scales, gaps in

data, the robustness of varying weighting and sampling techniques, and the need for development of community assemblage forecasts reveals the amount of work to be

done, in terms of making confident assessments at finer scales into the future for this

conservation strategy, which will likely be more prevalent with time. Finally, the author uses the holistic decision-making framework to assess two vulnerable species: the American pika and the whitebark pine. These case studies provide insights into the orientations of research and management communities to AM currently, and reveals the interplay of values that influence how we prioritize the survival of species, which can often be surrogates for the protection of a host of other species and environments.

Recommended Citation

Hedayat-Zedah, Mia Kimya, "Developing a Decision-Making Framework for Assisted Migration: Applying this to the American Pika and Whitebark Pine" (2020). Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers. 11632.
https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/11632