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Optimization of Salt Marsh Management at the Long Island National Wildlife Refuge Complex, New York, Through Use of Structured Decision Making

Open-File Report 2021-1070
Prepared in cooperation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
By: , , , , , and 
https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20211070

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Abstract

Structured decision making is a systematic, transparent process for improving the quality of complex decisions by identifying measurable management objectives and feasible management actions; predicting the potential consequences of management actions relative to the stated objectives; and selecting a course of action that maximizes the total benefit achieved and balances tradeoffs among objectives. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, applied an existing, regional framework for structured decision making to develop a prototype tool for optimizing tidal marsh management decisions at the Long Island National Wildlife Refuge Complex in New York. Refuge biologists, refuge managers, and research scientists identified multiple potential management actions to improve the ecological integrity of five marsh management units within the refuge complex and estimated the outcomes of each action in terms of performance metrics associated with each management objective. Value functions previously developed at the regional level were used to transform metric scores to a common utility scale, and utilities were summed to produce a single score representing the total management benefit that could be accrued from each potential management action. Constrained optimization was used to identify the set of management actions, one per marsh management unit, that could maximize total management benefits at different cost constraints at the refuge-complex scale. Results indicated that, for the objectives and actions considered here, total management benefits may increase consistently up to about $24,000, but that further expenditures may yield diminishing return on investment. Potential management actions in optimal portfolios at total costs less than $24,000 consistently included approaches for increasing drainage from the marsh surface within the marsh management units. The potential management benefits were derived from expected improvements in surface-water drainage and capacity for marsh elevation to keep pace with sea-level rise, and presumed increases in numbers of spiders (as an indicator of trophic health) and tidal marsh obligate birds. The prototype presented here does not resolve management decisions; rather, it provides a framework for decision making at the Long Island National Wildlife Refuge Complex that can be updated as new data and information become available. Insights from this process may also be useful to inform future habitat management planning at the refuges.

Suggested Citation

Neckles, H.A., Lyons, J.E., Nagel, J.L., Adamowicz, S.C., Mikula, T., and Williams, M.R., 2021, Optimization of salt marsh management at the Long Island National Wildlife Refuge Complex, New York, through use of structured decision making (ver. 1.1, August 2021): U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2021–1070, 34 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20211070.

ISSN: 2331-1258 (online)

Study Area

Table of Contents

  • Acknowledgments
  • Abstract
  • Introduction
  • Regional Structured Decision-Making Framework
  • Application to the Long Island National Wildlife Refuge Complex
  • Results of Constrained Optimization
  • Considerations for Optimizing Salt Marsh Management
  • References Cited
  • Appendix 1. Regional Influence Diagrams
  • Appendix 2. Utility Functions for the Long Island National Wildlife Refuge Complex
Publication type Report
Publication Subtype USGS Numbered Series
Title Optimization of salt marsh management at the Long Island National Wildlife Refuge Complex, New York, through use of structured decision making
Series title Open-File Report
Series number 2021-1070
DOI 10.3133/ofr20211070
Edition Version 1.0: July 13, 2021; Version 1.1: August 11, 2021
Year Published 2021
Language English
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Publisher location Reston, VA
Contributing office(s) Eastern Ecological Science Center
Description Report: vi, 34 p.
Country United States
State New York
Other Geospatial Long Island
Online Only (Y/N) Y
Additional Online Files (Y/N) N
Google Analytic Metrics Metrics page
Additional publication details