Paper/Poster/Presentation Title
Optimal land use?! – A review on optimization techniques used in multi-criteria decision analysis
Keywords
land use; multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA); optimization; ecosystem services; trade- offs
Location
Session B1: Data Assimilation Techniques for Uncertainty Reduction
Start Date
13-7-2016 3:50 PM
End Date
13-7-2016 4:10 PM
Abstract
Agriculture, forest management, conservation planning and other related disciplines have specific land use demands, and thus different perspectives on how land should be used in an “optimal way”. One way to solve arising land use conflicts is employing the ecosystem services concept together with methods from the field of multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA). Especially optimization techniques provide the possibility to include socio-economic and ecological aspects as well as the protection of biodiversity. In this study, we give an overview of these methods, focusing especially on their application in agricultural areas. We explore their abilities for the identification of ecosystem service trade-offs since land use planners are particularly interested in minimizing these. The aim of the research is to provide a guideline on which optimization methods can be used given different types of land use problems. For example, the problem’s size and structure determine whether a direct (e.g. Simplex, Branch & Bound) or heuristic algorithm (e.g. Simulated Annealing, Evolutionary Algorithm) should be applied. Furthermore, stakeholder opinions can be included either a priori (before), interactively (during) or a posteriori (after) the optimization process. Interactive approaches are seen as promising because the algorithm steers towards a solution close to the stakeholder’s aspirations which can be adjusted during the optimization process. However, a posteriori approaches are often recommended for trade-off analyses since their solutions provide the whole Pareto frontier – often referred to as “trade-off curve”. All methods are discussed and illustrated with examples of existing applications and case studies. Finally, we provide recommendations for their use in the different facets and perspectives of land and biodiversity management.
Included in
Civil Engineering Commons, Data Storage Systems Commons, Environmental Engineering Commons, Hydraulic Engineering Commons, Other Civil and Environmental Engineering Commons
Optimal land use?! – A review on optimization techniques used in multi-criteria decision analysis
Session B1: Data Assimilation Techniques for Uncertainty Reduction
Agriculture, forest management, conservation planning and other related disciplines have specific land use demands, and thus different perspectives on how land should be used in an “optimal way”. One way to solve arising land use conflicts is employing the ecosystem services concept together with methods from the field of multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA). Especially optimization techniques provide the possibility to include socio-economic and ecological aspects as well as the protection of biodiversity. In this study, we give an overview of these methods, focusing especially on their application in agricultural areas. We explore their abilities for the identification of ecosystem service trade-offs since land use planners are particularly interested in minimizing these. The aim of the research is to provide a guideline on which optimization methods can be used given different types of land use problems. For example, the problem’s size and structure determine whether a direct (e.g. Simplex, Branch & Bound) or heuristic algorithm (e.g. Simulated Annealing, Evolutionary Algorithm) should be applied. Furthermore, stakeholder opinions can be included either a priori (before), interactively (during) or a posteriori (after) the optimization process. Interactive approaches are seen as promising because the algorithm steers towards a solution close to the stakeholder’s aspirations which can be adjusted during the optimization process. However, a posteriori approaches are often recommended for trade-off analyses since their solutions provide the whole Pareto frontier – often referred to as “trade-off curve”. All methods are discussed and illustrated with examples of existing applications and case studies. Finally, we provide recommendations for their use in the different facets and perspectives of land and biodiversity management.
