This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Camm, J. D. Articles by Solow, A. R. Search for Related Content

Nature Reserve Site Selection to Maximize Expected Species Covered

Department of Quantitative Analysis and Operations Management, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio 45221-0130
College of Business Administration, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona 86011-5066
Department of Applied Economics, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota 55108-6040
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543
jeff.camm{at}uc.edu
susan.norman{at}nau.edu
spolasky{at}dept.agecon.umn.edu
solow{at}cliff.whoi.edu

We analyze the problem of maximizing the expected number of species in a nature reserve network, subject to a constraint on the number of sites in the network, given probabilistic information about species occurrences. The problem is a nonlinear binary integer program that is NP-hard. We develop a linear integer programming approximation that may be solved with standard integer programming software. We compare the approximation with two other approaches, an expected greedy approach and a probability hurdle approach, using probabilistic data on occurrences of terrestrial vertebrates in the state of Oregon. Results of the approximation and an exact algorithm are compared by using samples from the North American Breeding Bird Survey.

Subject classifications: Integer programming: coverage models; Facility location: reserve site selection under uncertainty.
History: Received June 2000; revision received January 2001; accepted May 2001.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				H. Onal and R. A. Briers Optimal Selection of a Connected Reserve Network Operations Research, March 1, 2006; 54(2): 379 - 388. [Abstract] [PDF]