RAMAS Multispecies Assessment

Estimating Multispecies Conservation Values across the Landscape

Use RAMAS Multispecies Assessment to 

• link your GIS to an ecological model, 
• use landscape data in your population viability analysis, 
• incorporate changes in habitat into a metapopulation model, 
• combine geographic and demographic data for risk assessment, and
• compute the Multispecies Conservation Values (MCV) across your study site. 

        You may use as little data for each species as a location map and its threat status (e.g., endangered, threatened) or, if you have more data, build detailed habitat and metapopulation models.

MULTISPECIES CONSERVATION VALUE (MCV)
is
the value of a site based on the importance of and the magnitude of the threats facing the component species.

• Phase 1: Habitat suitability assessment for each species
• Phase 2: Extinction risk and contribution estimation for each population
• Phase 3: Estimating Multispecies Conservation Values

1. G.I.S. Layers are imported
2. Habitat suitability function is applied
3. Patch detection to determine spatial structure of populations
4. Demographic parameters estimated based on spatial considerations

1. Build metapopulation model incorporating: stochasticity, stage structure, catastrophes, density dependence, population management, etc.
   or
   Use threat status or other estimate of risk
2. Run sequential models to estimate contribution of each population to the overall risk of extinction

1. Establish level of risk criteria
2. Combine habitat suitability, extinction risk and contribution values for each species at each location on the habitat suitability map
3. Output is a grid map of MCV values

Features 

        RAMAS Multispecies Assessment, which incorporates RAMAS GIS, includes the ability to:

• apply a suitability function to a series of map layers
• estimate the habitat suitability
• delineate populations
• import existing G.I.S. maps
• import RAMAS GIS Spatial Data files
• build spatially explicit metapopulation models, which may have
  • stage or age structure
  • density dependence
  • stochasticity
  • dispersal
  • catastrophes
  • population management
• import existing RAMAS Metapop files
• estimate the risk of extinction for a species
• estimate the contribution of each individual population to overall metapopulation risk of extinction
• utilize an externally generated numerical risk value
• and estimate a multispecies conservation value (MCV).

Capacity

• Spatial models may have up to 5000 rows by 5000 columns (see technical requirements of RAMAS GIS for details about compatible G.I.S. formats)
• Metapopulation models can have up to 500 populations with 50 stages and 100 different types of age or stage matrices (each of which can be assigned to one or more populations). They can be simulated for up to 500 time steps with up to 10,000 replications.

Output

        RAMAS Multispecies produces a variety of outputs during the 3-step process that summarizes the habitat suitability, metapopulation dynamics, and MCV. These include

• Habitat suitability map for each species (exportable)
• Risk of metapopulation decline
• Abundance of the metapopulation and the expected variation,
• Map of the MCV's across the study site (exportable)

User interface

        The program is accompanied by a manual for Multispecies Analysis which includes discussions on basics of each phase of the analysis and descriptions of various menus and screens. One chapter contains a tutorial that illustrates the concepts of metapopulation dynamics with the use of several examples, and demonstrates the use of the software by guiding the user through step-by-step instructions. Also included is a full version of the RAMAS GIS manual, which includes includes discussions on basics of population and metapopulation dynamics.

Program Requirements

        RAMAS Multispecies Assessment requires Windows 95 or later (e.g., Windows 95/98, NT 4.0, 2000, ME, XP). Macintosh users may run RAMAS programs using Windows emulation software (e.g., Connectix Virtual PC™).

Ordering Information

        See Software Price List and Ordering Information.