Using Structured Decision Making to prioritize species assemblages for conservation

Species prioritization efforts are a common strategy implemented to efficiently and effectively apply conservation efforts and allocate resources to address global declines in biodiversity. These structured processes help identify species that best represent the entire species community; however, these methods are often subjective and focus on a limited number of species characteristics. We developed an objective, transparent approach using a Structured Decision Making (SDM) framework to identify a group of grassland bird species on which to focus conservation efforts that considers biological, social, and logistical criteria in the Northern Great Plains of North America. The process quantified these criteria to ensure representation of a variety of species and habitats and included the relative value of each criterion to the working group. These SDM methods provide a unique roadmap for prioritization of grassland bird species and offer an objective, transparent, and repeatable method of selection for priority species in other well-studied ecosystems.