Ecological evaluation techniques

Abstract

Ecological evaluation techniques are used to classify and/or assess the relative worth, in non-monetary terms, of different ecological resources. They have been employed for a variety of purposes in landscape, land-use and conservation planning. System-based approaches and indicator-species assessments both classify and evaluate resources, mainly on considerations of putative importance for wildlife conservation. Multivariate techniques have been used to isolate the objective process of classification from the subjective process of placing a value on different categories. This paper contains a review of representative examples of alternative approaches to ecological evaluation. © 1986.