To Fund or Not to Fund: Using Bayesian Networks to Make Decisions About Conserving Our World's Endangered Species

摘要

Making a decision to invest in the conservation of a species is a complex process. The factors involved and interactions between these factors may depend on the perspective of the decisionmaker and particular characteristics of the species in question. While some factors that affect the decision are based on factual information relating to biology, costs, and benefits, others are based on individual or collective judgments and inclinations. Conservation planners are in the unenviable position of having to decide how to divide limited resources among many deserving causes, often with limited information.