Where, When, What, and Which? Using Characteristics of Migratory Species to Inform Conservation Policy Questions

Abstract

Although many migratory species are of conservation concern, traditional conservation policies and economic analysis rarely address the unique characteristics of migratory species, limiting their impact. After a brief description of key attributes of migratory species, this paper explores how those features alter approaches to answering critical conservation policy questions: where, when, with what tools, and which migratory species to conserve? Because migratory species make movement decisions across space and time, migratory species conservation also considers the joint question of when and where to conserve. Policy analysis that considers the spatial–temporal actions of migratory species throughout their annual habitat and incorporates the use of near real-time information is of particular importance for migratory species conservation. Regression analysis of increasingly available spatial–temporal data about species movements could generate important insights about species responses to human-managed landscapes and provide inputs that simplify and empirically ground spatial–dynamic conservation policy analysis.