Technical Approach

A spatially explicit population model (SEPM) was constructed by assimilating existing data on habitat preferences, demography, behavior, and population genetic structure of the RCW. The demographic-genetic SEPM was integrated with landscape equivalency analysis (LEA) to estimate spatially explicit credits that may be traded among landowners. LEA is a landscape-scale approach to resource-based compensation, which often has been used to plan mitigation in a manner that "keeps the public whole" in terms of ecological service flows. LEA uses metapopulation services to analyze tradeoffs between economic and conservation goals set at different spatial scales. LEA calculates tradable credits based on proportional changes in three metapopulation service flows—abundance, genetic variance within breeding groups, and genetic variance among breeding groups. The approach directs the trading of habitat patches within an endangered metapopulation to minimize the effects of fragmentation. The uniqueness of this approach lies in the ability of LEA to incorporate the unequal contribution of habitat patches and areas between patches to each metapopulation service flow. Land parcels providing optimal habitat and key linkages in the landscape contribute greatly to these services flows and are assigned a higher conservation value. Landowners who contribute or could contribute greatly to metapopulation services would benefit from protecting or restoring habitat if a market for habitat credits were established.