Ecoregional Assessment and Biodiversity Vision Toolbox

By Jonathan Higgins, The Nature Conservancy

Introduction

The ERA and Biodiversity Toolbox was developed by TNC to provide guidance for the development of ecoregional assessments. It includes tools,
case studies, and background documents collected and developed through on-the-ground experience. The toolbox is divided into 14 sections,
based on the 14 Ecoregional Assessment/Biodiversity Vision Standards

Click here for more information on the toolbox.

Content

Note: All links are PDF files, unless otherwise noted

Standard 1: Engage key internal and external partners and stakeholders throughout the process

Case Studies	Backround Documents
Carpathian Mountains	Okanagan ERA Update (TNC)
Central America	Parnership Toolbox (WWF)
India	People Matters - Case study report (TNC)
Okanagan	People Matters - Appendices (TNC)
	Stakeholder Analysis Exercise (TNC)
	Stakeholder Collaboration (WWF)
	Trade-off Analysis for Participatory Coastal Zone Decision-Making (Overseas Development Group)
	Indigenous and Traditional Peoples and Protected Areas (WCPA)
	Transboundary Protected Areas for Peace and Co-operation (WCPA)
	Where the Power Lies (participatory methods guide) (Bevlyne Sithole)
	Situation Analysis (WWF)
	Guide to Socioeconomic Assessments for Ecoregion Conservation (WWF)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Standard 2: Have work plans, content, and products reviewed by peers (and if appropriate, key stakeholders and partners)

Case Studies	Backround Documents
none	Peer Review (Postnote)
	Peer Review Methodology (Barry Dalal-Clayton)
	Report on Peer Review and Shared Learning Process (French National Strategy for Sustainable Development)
	Science & Public Policy: the Twain Must Meet (lecture by William D. Ruckelshaus)

 

 

 

 

Standard 3: Use a consistent data management framework in accordance with internal and partner organization data standards

Case Studies	Backround Documents
none	Framework for Information Sharing Volume 1: Principles (BCIS)
	Framework for Information Sharing Volume 2: Procedures Manual (BCIS)
	Framework for Information Sharing Volume 3: Custodianship (BCIS)
	Framework for Information Sharing Volume 4: Data Access (BCIS)
	Framework for Information Sharing Volume 5: Metadata (BCIS)
	Framework for Information Sharing Volume 6: Standards & Quality Assurance (BCIS)
	Framework for Information Sharing Volume 7: Core Datasets (BCIS)
	Framework for Information Sharing Volume 8: Tools & Technology (BCIS)
	Conservation Planning Tool description (TNC)
	Conservation Planning Tool user guide (TNC)
	Conservation Planning Tool: TNC Southeast Division's Experience (TNC)
	Products of the EDMT Pilot Project (TNC)
	An Information Management Plan for the Thousand Islands Ecosystem (Oliver K. Reichl)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Standard 4: Make all products, methods and supporting data publicly available, in accordance with data sharing agreements

Case Studies	Backround Documents
Alaska Yukon Arctic ERA	Freshwater Threats Guide (TNC)
SE United States	Alaska Yukon Arctic ERA Update #1 (TNC)
	Alaska Yukon Arctic ERA Update #2 (TNC)
	Alaska Yukon Arctic ERA Update #3 (TNC)
	Alaska Yukon Arctic ERA Update #4 (TNC)
	Alaska Yukon Arctic ERA Update #5 (TNC)
	Alaska Yukon Arctic ERA Update #6 (TNC)
	Alaska Yukon Arctic ERA Update #7 (TNC)
	Alaska Yukon Arctic ERA Update #8 (TNC)
	Alaska Yukon Arctic ERA Update #9 (TNC)
	Alaska Yukon Arctic ERA Update #10 (TNC)
	Alaska Yukon Arctic ERA Update #11 (TNC)
	Alaska Yukon Arctic ERA Update #12 (TNC)
	SE Alaska CFM ERA Update #1 (TNC)
	Cook Inlet Basin ERA brochure (TNC)
	CPT Data Model (TNC)
	Ecoregion-based Conservation in the Carpathians and the land-use implications (D. Turnock)
	Ecoregional Planning in marine environments: identifying priority sites for conservation in the N. Gulf of Mexico (Beck & Odaya)
	Marketing as a Conservation Strategy (TNC)
	Identifying Conservation Priorities in the Hudson River Estuary Watershed (TNC)
	Loss of Natural Perennial Flow in Arizona's Streams (TNC)
	Mapping the Distribution of Arizona's Native Fish (NTC)
	NW Coast ERA Update #1 (TNC)
	NW Coast ERA Update #2 (TNC)
	Tennessee, Cumberland & Mobile River Basins at Risk (WWF)
	TNC Arizona Chapter website link (TNC)
	Willamette Valley-Puget Trough-Georgia Basin ERA brochure (TNC)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Standard 5: Assemble an ecoregion team with strong and ambitious leadership, ecology, conservation biology, data analysis and management,
and socioeconomic capacity

Case Studies	Backround Documents
none	Built to Change: Catalytic Capacity-Building in Nonprofit Organizations (A. Newman)
	Ecoregion Action Programmes Guidebook Part 1: Understanding Ecoregion Conservation (WWF)
	Ecoregion Action Programmes Guidebook Part 2: Making it Happen (WWF)
	Ecoregion Action Programmes Guidebook Part 4: Moving from Vision to Action (WWF)
	Ecoregion Action Programmes Guidebook Part 6: Looking Ahead (WWF)
	Peru ERA Memorandum of Understanding

 

 

 

 

 

Standard 6: Develop assessments/ visions within ecologically meaningful areas adopted or adapted from existing ecoregional classifications

Case Studies	Backround Documents
Central America	Assessment Area Boundary Modification Justification Documentation Guidance (TNC)
Superior Mixed Forest Region	Closing the Gaps in Florida's Wildlife Habitat Conservation System (Florida Game & Fresh Water Fish Commission)
SW Amazon	Leveraging National Conservation Action Through Ecoregional Planning in Mexico (TNC)
	Ecological Subregion Codes by County, Coterminous US (USDA)
	Strategic Habitats for Biodiversity Conservation in Florida (Kautz & Cox)

Standard 7: Select terrestrial, freshwater and marine biodiversity elements across multiple biological and scales

Case Studies	Backround Documents
Central Appalachians Ecoregion	Guidelines for Representing Ecological Communities in Ecoregional Conservation Plans (TNC)
East Gulf Coast Plain Ecoregion	Planning Methods for Ecoregional Targets: Freshwater Aquatic Ecosystems and Networks (TNC)
Eastern Himalayas	ArcGIS 8.x Benthic Terrain Modeler (Rinehart et al.)
Klamath-Siskiyou Forests	Shoreline Conservation Targets (TNC)
Northern Great Plains Steppe	A Draft MPA Planning Framework for the Greater Gulf of Maine and Scotian Shelf (WWF)
Pacific Northwest Coast Ecoregion	A Freshwater Classification Approach for Biodiversity Conservation Planning (Higgins et al.)
Shoreline Habitat Classification	Ecoregional Planning in the Northern Great Plains Steppe (TNC)
Willamette Valley-Puget Trough-Georgia Basin Ecoregion	Coastal / Marine Systems of N. America (NatureServe)
	Biodiversity Conservation at Multiple Scales: Functional Sites, Landscapes, and Networks (Poiani et al.)
	Mapping the Conservation Landscape (Redford et al.)
	Protecting Australia's Rivers, Wetlands and Estuaries (Land & Water Australia)
	Washington State ShoreZone Inventory User's Manual (Berry et al.)
	GIS Tools for Freshwater Biodiversity Conservation Planning (FitzHugh)
	Ecological Systems of the US (NatureServe)
	WWF WildFinder website description (Science)

Standard 8: Develop explicit abundance and distribution goals for biodiversity elements

Case Studies	Backround Documents
High Allegheny Plateau	Conservation Goals and Scenario Building in the Utah High Plateaus Assessment (NatureServe)
Edwards Plateau Ecoregion	Setting Representation Goals and Objectives for the Central Shortgrass Prairie ERA (NatureServe)
Florida	A Biodiversity and Conservation Assessment of the Edwards Plateau Ecoregion (TNC)
Utah High Plateaus Ecoregion	Establishing the REplication and Distribution Goals for Ecoregional Communities in the N. Appalachians

 

Standard 9: Conduct an analysis of the severity and geographic scope of threats to biodiversity elements, and analyze the root causes of
priority threats

Case Studies	Backround Documents
Caribbean marine	Integration of Environmental Change Information with Alaska-Yukon Arctic ERA (TNC)
Central Tallgrass Prairie	Causal Chain Analysis and Root Causes: the GIWA Approach (Balaustegulgoltia)
Tennessee/Cumberland	Conventions for Defining, Naming, Measuring, Combining and Mapping Threats in Conservation (Salafsky et al.)
Valdivian Temperate Rainforest	Landscape Patters of Exurban Growth int he USA from 1980 to 2020 (Theobald)
WWF Root Cause Analysis of Threats	The Root Causes of Biodiversity Loos in the Eastern African Marine Ecoregion (WWF)
	Utah High Plateaus Ecoregion Aquatic System Descriptor Information (TNC)
	Families of Freshwater Ecological System Types & their Attributes (TNC)
	Climate Change and Forest Disturbances (Dale et al.)
	System Assessment Form (TNC)
	Evaluating Human Population in Conservation Planning (TNC)
	Identifying Conservation-Priority Areas in the Tropics: a Land-Use Change Modeling Approach (Menon et al.)
	Marine Aquaculture in the US (PEW Oceans Commission)
	Conservation and Sustainable Use of the Meso-American Barrier Reef System in Mexico, Belize, Guatemala and Honduras (Dulin et al)
	Socioeconomic Root Causes of Biodiversity Loss in Madagascar (Ratsifandrihamanana)
	Conservation Measures Partnership Proposed Taxonomy of Direct Threats (TNC)
	Threat Forcasting handout (TNC)
	Streamlining Threat Assessments to Multisite and Ecoregional Scales in the Wider Caribbean (Kramer & Burke)
	Ecological Impacts of Recreational Use of Trails (Jordan)
	Regional Overview of Land-Based Sources of Marine Pollution (UNEP)
	Coastal Tourism in the Wider Caribbean Region: Impacts and Best Management Practices (UNEP)
	Utah High Plateau Ecological Threats (Powerpoint, TNC)

Standard 10: Screen all biodiversity element occurrences for viability or ecological integrity

Case Studies	Backround Documents
Apache Highlands	A Practical Handbook for Population Viability Analysis (Morris et al.)
Quality and Threats to Aquatic Targets	Suitability Index Publications
Suitability Indices	Derivation of Suitability Index Yakima/Palouse EDU Washington
SW Amazon	Assess Landscape Integrity to Estimate Long-term Persistence of Biodiversity (WWF)
Washington State	Assessing Fragmentation of Shrubsteppe Habitat in Douglas County, WA (poster)
	Fragmentation of Shrubsteppe Habitat in Douglas County, WA (map)

 

 

 

 

 

Standard 11: Design ecoregional portfolios/biodiversity visions to best meet goals for all conservation elements, using the principles of efficiency,
representation, irreplaceability, and functionality

Case Studies	Backround Documents
Carolinian Marine ERA	Building a Climate-Adaptive Portfolio for the Alaska/Yukon Arctic Coast Ecoregion (TNC powerpoint presentation)
Southern Rockies ERA	TNC Climate Change Article Excerpt
SW Amazon Biodiversity Vision	Utah High Plateaus ERA Summary of Conservation Scenarios (Comer et al)
SW Amazon Connectivity	The Conservation Planning System (C-Plan)
Utah High Plains Ecoregion	Setting Representation Goals and Objectives forthe Central Shortgrass Prairie ERA (NatureServe)
	EPAT Users' Guide
	ERA of the Greater Caribbean Basin: Designing a Portfolio of Conservation Action Areas (TNC)
	Automated Integration of Aquatic and Terrestrial Conservation Areas in Conservation Planning: A New Method (Schindel et al.)
	A Blueprint for Conserving the Biodiversity of the Federated States of Micronesia
	Napa Valley Decision Support System (Geospatial Solutions Journal)
	Introduction to SPOT (Powerpoint presentation)
	SPOT: The Spatial Portfolio Optimization Tool (TNC)
	Ecological Processes at the Ecoregional Scale: Considerations for Portfolio Design (TNC)

Standard 12: Set overall priorities for conservation action within the ecoregional portfolio/biodiversity vision and define institutional roles
and priorities

Case Studies	Backround Documents
South America	Biodiversity Conservation in the Tropics (World Conservation Monitoring Centre)
Arizona	Biodiversity and Worldmap
Arizona Appendix	The BioRap Biodiversity Assessment and Planning Study for Papua New Guinea
Central America	Conserving Ecoregional Portfolios: Sequencing Priorities for Conservation Action
Great Lakes Ecoregion	A Framework for Setting Land Conservation Priorities using Multi-Criteria Scoring and an Optimal FUnd Allocation Strategy (Davis et al)
Northern Andes	Geography of Hope Update: When and Where to Consider Restoration in Ecoregional Planning (TNC)
Northern High Plains	Theoretical Constructs for Large-Scale Restoration (TNC)
Southern Rockies Ecoregion	Important Bird Areas in Kenya - Priorities for Action
SE USA	Biodiversity in the Balance: Approaches to Setting Geographic Conservation Priorities (Johnson)
SE USA Appendix	ResNet Manual (Garson et al)
Yunnan Great Rivers Project	Freshwater Biodiversity: a Preliminary Global Assessment (WCMC)

Standard 13: Assess and report ecoregional conservation status at appropriate intervals

Standard 14: Produce a long-term financial plan to support strategy and measures implementation, further data development, and analyses