ABSTRACT
Decision making in conservation biology is frequently a complex process, involving the balancing of conflicting objectives, and the processing of vast quantities of information. Geographic information systems (GIS), statistics, models, and other techniques can be extremely useful tools in the decision process. Examples of decisions to which these techniques might be applied include reserve design, forest cutting, and species reintroduc tion. In each, technology can be a helpful adjunct to the decision process, but does not provide that process. GIS and spatial models may be useful in displaying alternate con figurations of a reserve design, but only if the decision maker has a clear objective (e.g., maximizing species diversity; ensuring persistence of particularly valued species or habi tats). Likewise, both the data and the models are subject to statistical and other errors, or may be dependent on untested assumptions. The extent to which this information may be useful to the decision maker will depend on many factors, all of which depend on how they will be used in a decision process.
