Hallmarks of a Successful Decision Support System

The terms decision support system (DSS) and decision support tool (DST) have become popular jargon in the conservation community. Whether you are familiar with this terminology or reading about them for the first time, it is important to understand what they are and how they can guide conservation actions.

To be successful, we must rely on Strategic Habitat Conservation, a structured, science-driven approach for making efficient transparent decisions about where and how to expend our resources. We must be as effective and efficient as possible — which is why decision support systems and tools can be invaluable.

For example, a decision support tool can express where on the landscape certain vegetative and other aspects coincide to create positive habitat conditions for a species. In some cases it may combine a variety of characteristics to determine areas of highest conservation value; in others it can combine cost, landscape characteristics and programmatic needs to show where habitat programs may have the most wildlife benefit.

So what exactly is a decision support tool and how does it differ from a decision support system?

Decision Support System vs. Decision Support Tool

In simple terms, a decision support system is a process that helps us evaluate information in order to make effective, efficient decisions about conservation delivery. It may help guide the creation of one or many decision support tools, which are products that help answer specific questions.

A decision support system is an analytical process, or series of steps, designed to compile and evaluate the best available information regarding a particular issue or decision at hand. This process can incorporate a variety of information types such as data, conceptual or empirical models and expert knowledge. It may also include the development of new partnerships and workgroups. A decision support system often includes examination of spatially explicit data, which can result in maps that identify important geographic areas. These maps may be decision support tools within the broader decision support system.

A decision support tool is a component of a decision support system designed to accomplish a specific task. These tools can take many forms such as a map, output from a predictive model, written guidance on habitat management or mitigation activities, etc.

What Is Needed for a Good DSS or DST?

A successful decision support system or tool assists decision makers in their strategic habitat conservation efforts by answering critical questions. Developing a successful decision support tool requires thoughtful planning and iterative review. It requires a bit of work, but the benefits from developing an appropriate system or tool can be significantly more effective than haphazard conservation work.

Below we outline key considerations for successful DSS/DST development.

• Question/Need Driven — What is the purpose of the DSS or DST? It should satisfy a specific need.
  
  
• Data Availability — What data do I have? What data do I need? Do the data exist? Are the data accessible?
  
  
• Data Quality — What is the accuracy of the data? Are the data complete? How old are the data? How were the data collected and what are the implications for analysis?
  
  
• Peer Review — Who should review the DSS or DST? A professional review from a variety of experts and fields (i.e., ecology, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), statistics, economics, policy) is essential.
  
  
• Target Audience — Who has requested the DSS or DST? Who will use it? Feedback from the target audience is necessary to develop a system or tool they want and can use. It’s important to recognize that the audience could be two separate organizations. For example, a wildlife agency requests a DSS for use by energy developers.
  
  
• Stakeholder Participation — Who are the stakeholders? All the agencies and organizations that will use or support the DSS or DST should be involved in its creation.
  
  
• Communication Tool — How will the DSS or DST be communicated to the target audience? These are primarily communication tools, but that is often overlooked in the creation and use of a DSS.
  
  
• Measureable Success — How will I know if the DSS or DST is effective? Design measureable objectives for evaluation and adaptation stages of development and deployment.

More Information

To learn more about how a decision support system is developed, watch a recording of the DSS for Targeting Lesser Prairie-Chicken Conservation webinar. The Playa Lakes Joint Venture (PLJV) and the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks, and Tourism (KDWPT) participated in a national webinar series aimed at illustrating how state fish and wildlife agencies and joint ventures are working collaboratively for better bird conservation. In the webinar, PLJV’s GIS Director Megan McLachlan discusses a project in which PLJV and KDWPT worked collaboratively, along with a large working group of federal agencies and conservation organizations, to develop a geospatial decision support system aimed at conserving the Lesser Prairie-Chicken, a species of high conservation concern in Kansas. 

If you have questions about decision support systems or would like help developing a decision support tool, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. at 303-926-0777.