Migratory Birds and The Oil Sands of Canada: Addressing Complexity and Uncertainty

In collaboration with their coauthors, Marc Nelitz and Alex Hall of ESSA explored the use of conceptual models and expert judgments to inform expansion of ecological monitoring around oil sands development in northern Alberta, Canada, an area rich in ecological data but not in understanding of system behaviour. This innovative combination of techniques proved useful for addressing complexity and uncertainty in a specific and contentious natural resource management setting, and lays the groundwork for tackling similar challenges in other socio-ecological systems.

Read the full open-access article paper at Ecology and Society:

Nelitz, M. A., B. Beardmore, C. S. Machtans, A. W. Hall, and C. Wedeles. 2015. Addressing complexity and uncertainty: conceptual models and expert judgments applied to migratory birds in the oil sands of Canada. Ecology and Society 20(4):4.