AbstractCollaboratively Tracking Implementation and Effectiveness of Desert Tortoise RecoveryTrack: Ecology and Conservation Author The recovery strategy for the threatened Mojave desert tortoise emphasizes partnerships and science to implement, track, and evaluate recovery. Recovery Implementation Teams, comprised of land managers, stakeholders, and scientists, work together to prioritize recovery actions on the ground and assess results in a spatial decision support system (SDSS). The SDSS is an interactive system that computes the output of a set of models (e.g. effects of a threat on a tortoise population) based on underlying databases (e.g. spatial extent of the threat, tortoise population, and management actions). The system incorporates a range-wide geospatial database of current management activities, threats, and tortoise population parameters, providing managers a framework for recognizing and implementing successful recovery actions. Recovery Implementation Teams use the system to predict outcomes of different management scenarios to prioritize efforts, identify vital data gaps, track implementation, and examine correlations between management actions or threat reduction and tortoise populations. Catherine Darst U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 2493 Portola Road Suite B Ventura, California 93003 United States Phone: 805-644-1766 E-mail: cat_darst@fws.gov Naicong Li University of Redlands 4275 Sorrel Way, NE Bainbridge Island, Washington 98110 United States Phone: 206-855-8792 E-mail: Naicong_li@spatial.redlands.edu Philip Murphy InfoHarvest Inc. 108 S. Washington St Suite 200 Seattle, Washington 98104 United States Phone: 206-686-2729 E-mail: philip.murphy@infoharvest.com Roy Averill-Murray U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1340 Financial Blvd, #234 Reno, Nevada 89502 United States Phone: 775-861-6362 E-mail: roy_averill-murray@fws.gov Lisa Benvenuti Redlands Institute, University of Redlands 1200 E. Colton Ave. Redlands, California 92373 United States Phone: 909-748-8372 E-mail: lisa_benvenuti@spatial.redlands.edu Nathan Strout Redlands Institute, University of Redlands 1200 E. Colton Ave. Redlands, California 92373 United States Phone: 909-748-8383 E-mail: nathan_strout@spatial.redlands.edu |