Marxan with zones is novel in that it introduces zoning as a formal consideration of the conservation planning problem. This advancement represents a shift away from the binary reserve design problem towards a multiple zone scheme. It is a substantial extension of the Marxan software designed to enhance the functionality of its elder sibling, providing many alternative multiple-use zoning options in geographical regions for conservation. The zoning plans meet a variety of conservation and human-use objectives while their total cost of implementation is minimized. These costs can include: The cost of reservation; Cost of management; Opportunity costs; Other constraints. This novel functionality provides the flexibility to address a range of complex spatial planning problems. We hope Marxan with Zones will attract wide use in a range of conservation planning problems beyond those solvable by Marxan. It differs from Marxan in these ways: Multiple zones or actions can be used; Each parcel of land or sea can be allocated to a specific zone; Each of the zones has their own actions, objectives and constraints; Economic, social, cultural and biological spatial features can be used as both objectives and constraints. Those wishing to apply Marxan with Zones should first become familiar with Marxan.
Ardron, J. and C.J. Klein (Eds.), 2008. Marxan good practices handbook. University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Queensland, Australia, and Pacific Marine Analysis and Research Association, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. pdf (3.69 MB) also available at http://www.pacmara.org/.
Game, E. T. and H. S. Grantham. (2008). Marxan User Manual: For Marxan version 1.8.10. University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Queensland, Australia, and Pacific Marine Analysis and Research Association, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Hugh Possingham et al. 2000. Mathematical methods for identifying representative reserve networks. [http://www.ecology.uq.edu.au/links/CH17Reprint.pdf]
http://www.uq.edu.au/marxan/ (No Longer Available)
All (User Specified Application Domain)
Biodiversity Conservation
Estuarine, Coastal And Marine Management
Alternative Evaluation
Reserve System
Site Search Or Selection
All (User Specified Domain Knowledge Modeling Area)
Estuarine And Marine Ecosystem Modeling
Landscape Analysis And Modeling
Management Process Modeling
Socioeconomic System Modeling
Alternative Generation
Rank Alternatives
Visualization
Simulated Annealing
Trade-Off Analysis
Visualization
Biophysical Process
Economic Process
Management Process
Social Process
User Defined Process
Text File (.TXT)
Text File (.TXT)
All (User Defined Analysis Extent)
Regional Extent
Subregional Extent
Subregion
Forest Fragmentation
Forest Management Classes
Species Diversity
true
Windows 2000
Windows 95/98
Windows NT
Windows XP
Arcgis
Arcview
Zonae Cogito
Optimization: The engine, MARXAN.exe, primarily uses simulated annealing to find near-optimal solutions, but it also includes a variety of less sophisticated, but often faster, heuristic algorithms, such as "summed irreplaceability" (Leslie et al. in press; McDonnell et al. 2002).Other: A separate graphic user interface is provided for setting up input data and run options for the engine. MARXAN does not provide graphic display of design solutions, but its output data are easily imported into GIS applications such as ArcView 3.2 of ArcGIS 8.x
Some Scientific Background
Some Computer/GIS Programming Skills
true
false
Free
Regularly Distributed
The Ecology Centre, The University Of Queensland
Ecosystem-Based Management Tools Network
Hugh Possingham
h.possingham@uq.edu.au
Martin Wong
Software Tools And Models - All
Spatial Decision Support Systems
Martin Wong
9/25/2009
3/17/2010
Alternative Ranking, Decision Making
Decision Alternatives Generation, Scenario Simulation
Visualization
Spatial Decision Support Systems
Decision Model
Evaluative Models