The Ecosystem Management Decision Support (EMDS) system is an application framework for knowledge-based decision support of ecological analysis and planning at any geographic scale.
EMDS integrates geographic information system (GIS) as well as logic programming and decision modeling technologies on multiple platforms (Windows, Linux, Mac OS X) to provide decision support for a substantial portion of the adaptive management process of ecosystem management.
EMDS has used Criterium DecisionPlus from InfoHarvest, Inc. and NetWeaver from Rules of Thumb, Inc. as core analytical engines since 2002. The NetWeaver component performs logic-based evaluation of environmental data, and logically synthesizes evaluations to infer the state of landscape features such as watersheds (e.g., watershed condition). The DecisionPlus component prioritizes landscape features with respect to user-defined management objectives (e.g., watershed restoration), using summarized outputs from NetWeaver as well as additional logistical information considered important to the decision maker(s). See the #Applications section below for a current list of published papers by application area.
Several citations provide background on the EMDS system and its potential applications.Reynolds, K.M. 2001a. Using a logic framework to assess forest ecosystem sustainability. Journal of Forestry 99:26-30. PDFReynolds, K.M. 2001b. Fuzzy logic knowledge bases in integrated landscape assessment: examples and possibilities. Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-GTR-521. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 24 p. PDFReynolds, K.M. 2002a. Landscape evaluation and planning with EMDS 3.0. 2002 ESRI User Conference. San Diego, CA. July 9–12, 2002. Redlands, CA: Environmental Systems Research Institute. PDFReynolds, K.M. 2002b. Logic models as frameworks for thinking about compatibility. Pages 215-224 in Johnson, D.; Haynes, R., eds. Proceedings of the Wood Compatibility Workshop. Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-GTR-563. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. PDFReynolds, K.M. 2003. A logic approach to design specifications for integrated application of diverse models in forest ecosystem analysis. Pages 379-385 in: Amaro, A., Reed, D. and Soares, P. (eds). Modelling Forest Systems. CABI Publishing, Wallingford, UK.Reynolds, K.M. 2005b. Integrated decision support for sustainable forest management in the United States: fact or fiction? Computers and Electronics in Agriculture 49:6-23. PDFReynolds, K.M. 2005c. EMDS 3.0: A Modeling Framework for Coping with Complexity in Environmental Assessment and Planning PDFReynolds, K.M., and P.F. Hessburg. 2014. An overview of the Ecosystem Management Decision-Support system. Chapter 1 in Reynolds, K.M., P.F. Hessburg, and P.S. Bourgeron (eds). Decision Support for Environmental Management: Applications of the Ecosystem Management Decision Support System. Berlin: Springer. PDFSaunders, M.C, and B.J. Miller. 2014 NetWeaver. Chapter 2 in Reynolds, K.M., P.F. Hessburg, and P.S. Bourgeron (eds). Decision Support for Environmental Management: Applications of the Ecosystem Management Decision Support System. Berlin: Springer. PDFMurphy, P.J. 2014. Criterium DecisionPlus. Chapter 3 in Reynolds, K.M., P.F. Hessburg, and P.S. Bourgeron (eds). Decision Support for Environmental Management: Applications of the Ecosystem Management Decision Support System. Berlin: Springer. [ PDF]Paplanus, S., B. Miller, P. Murphy, K. Reynolds, and M.Saunders. 2014. EMDS 5.0 and Beyond. Chapter 13 in Reynolds, K.M., P.F. Hessburg, and P.S. Bourgeron (eds). Decision Support for Environmental Management: Applications of the Ecosystem Management Decision Support System. Berlin: Springer. PDFReynolds, K.M., P.F. Hessburg, and P.S. Bourgeron. 2014. Synthesis and new directions. Chapter 14 in Reynolds, K.M., P.F. Hessburg, and P.S. Bourgeron (eds). Decision Support for Environmental Management: Applications of the Ecosystem Management Decision Support System. Berlin: Springer. PDFReynolds, K., S. Paplanus, B. Miller, and P. Murphy. 2015. Design features behind success of the Ecosystem Management Decision Support System and future development. Forests 6:27-46. PDFMarcot, B.G., and K.M. Reynolds. 2019. EMDS has a GeNIe with a SMILE. Newsletter of the Australian Bayesian Network Modelling Society. August 2019, 12-15. PDF
EMDS 8.7 was released in February 2023. New features were added between v5 and 8.7 (see Frontiers in Environmental Science): Classic multicriteria decision analysis to rate potential management activities in each landscape feature. Design and evaluation of alternative portfolios of management actions to implement on a landscape. A table and charting utility for summarizing results of the analytical engines. Addition of a workflow editor to automate sequences of activities and data processing. Support for scripting languages (Python, R, JavaScript, and C#script) that can be used standalone or in conjunction with the workflow editor.
Development partners EMDS was originally developed by the United States Forest Service. The Redlands Institute of the University of Redlands developed and maintained EMDS from 2005 until mid 2014 when the university closed the Redlands Institute. Support and development of EMDS was transferred to Mountain View Business Group where one of the principal programmers was able to find a new home. Development continues with support from Rules of Thumb, Inc. and InfoHarvest, Inc.. Logic Programming Associates (London, UK) joined the EMDS development group in 2013, bringing VisiRule and their expertise in Prolog programming into the mix. An area of immediate interest for further research and development based on this new expertise is the possibility for implementing natural language generators in EMDS that can interact with the analytical products and maps from NetWeaver and CDP, and render all of this complexity into easy-to-understand executive summaries. The most recent addition to the EMDS development group is BayesFusion, LLC, which brings a customized version of its SMILE engine for running GeNIe Bayesian network applications to the EMDS environment.Marcot, B.G., and K.M. Reynolds. 2019. EMDS has a GeNIe with a SMILE. Newsletter of the Australian Bayesian Network Modelling Society. August 2019, 12-15. PDFMarcot, B.G., and K.M. Reynolds. 2019. EMDS has a GeNIe with a SMILE. PNW Research Note PNW-RN581. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, Portland, OR.
Applications EMDS, the book (March 2014).Reynolds, K.M., P.F. Hessburg, and P.S. Bourgeron (eds). 2014. Making Transparent Environmental Management Decisions: Applications of the Ecosystem Management Decision Support System. Berlin: Springer. Available online ConservationWang, J., J. Chen, W. Ju, and M. Li. 2010. IA-SDSS: A GIS-based land use decision support system with consideration of carbon sequestration. Environmental Modelling & Software 25: 539–553. PDFManzuli, A.G. 2005. Knowledge-based monitoring and evaluation system of land Use: assessing the ecosystem conservation status in the influence area of a gas pipeline in Bolivia. Doctoral dissertation. Göttingen: Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftlichen Fakultäten der Georg-August-Universität Göttingen. PDFWhite, M.D., Heilman, G.E. Jr., and Stallcup, J.E. 2005. Science assessment for the Sierra Checkerboard Initiative . Conservation Biology Institute, Encinitas, CA.Humphries, H.C., P.S. Bourgeron, and K.M. Reynolds. 2008. Suitability for conservation as a criterion in regional conservation network selection. Biodiversity and Conservation 17: 467-492.online Staus, N.L., J.R. Strittholt, and D.A. Dellasala. 2010. Evaluating areas of high conservation value in Western Oregon with a decision-support model. Conservation Biology 24: 711–720. PDFWhite, M.D., and J.R. Strittholt. 2014. Forest conservation planning. Chapter 9 in Reynolds, K.M., P.F. Hessburg, and P.S. Bourgeron (eds). Decision Support for Environmental Management: Applications of the Ecosystem Management Decision Support System. Berlin: Springer. PDFPovak, P.A., C.P. Giardina, P.F. Hessburg, K.M. Reynolds, R.B. Salter, C. Heider, E. Salminen, and R. MacKenzie. 2020. A decision support tool for the conservation of tropical forest and nearshore environments on Babeldaob Island, Palau. Forest Ecology and Management 476. PDFBourgeron, P.S., H.C. Humphries, and K.M. Reynolds. 2003. Conducting large-scale conservation evaluation and conservation area selection using a knowledge-based system and GIS framework. In: Parks, BO, Clarke KM, Crane MP, editors. 2003. Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Integrating Geographic Information Systems and Environmental Modeling: Problems, Prospectus, and Needs for Research. [CD-ROM, ]. GIS/EM4 Conference; 2000 Sep 2-8; The Banff Centre, Banff, (AB) Canada. [Jointly published] Boulder: University of Colorado - Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, Denver: US Geologic Survey - Center for Biological Informatics, and Boulder: NOAA National Geophysical Data Center - Ecosystem Informatics. PDFStoms, D.M., McDonald, J.M., and Davis, F.W. 2002. Fuzzy Assessment of Land Suitability for Scientific Research Reserves. Environmental Management 29:545-558. PDFStoms, D.M. 2014. Ecological research reserve planning. Chapter 8 in Reynolds, K.M., P.F. Hessburg, and P.S. Bourgeron (eds). Decision Support for Environmental Management: Applications of the Ecosystem Management Decision Support System. Berlin: Springer. PDF EcosystemsKrsnik, G., K.M. Reynolds, P. Murphy, S. Paplanus, J. Garcia-Gonzalo, and J.R. González Olabarria.2023. Forest use suitability: Towards decision-making-oriented sustainable management of forest ecosystem services. Geography and Sustainability 4: 414-427. PDFAbelson, E.S., K.M. Reynolds, P. Manley, S. Paplanus. 2021. Strategic decision support for long-term conservation management planning. Forest Ecology and Management 497. PDFAbelson, E.S., K.M. Reynolds, A.M. White, J.W. Long, C. Maxwell, and P.N. Manley. 2022. Evaluating pathways to social and ecological landscape resilience. Ecology and Society 27. PDFMarto, M., IK.M. Reynolds, J.G. Borges, V.A. Bushenkov, and S. Marques. 2018. Combining decision support approaches for optimizing the selection of bundles of ecosystem services. Forests 9: 438-451. PDFMarques, M., K.M. Reynolds, S. Marques, M. Marto, S. Paplanus, and J.G. Borges. 2021. A participatory and spatial multicriteria decision approach to prioritize the allocation of ecosystem services to management units. Land 10. Reynolds, K.M., Johnson, K.N.; Gordon, S.N. 2003. The science/policy interface in logic‑based evaluation of forest ecosystem sustainability. Forest Policy and Economics 5:433-446. PDFReynolds, K.M. 2005a. Decision support for evaluating the U.S. national criteria and indicators for forest ecosystem sustainability. In: Aguirre-Bravo, Celedonio, et al. Eds. Monitoring Science and Technology Symposium: Unifying Knowledge for Sustainability in the Western Hemisphere; 2004 September 20–24; Denver, CO. Proceedings RMRS-P-37CD. Odgen, UT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. Published on CD-ROM. PDFReynolds, K.M., S.N. Gordon, and K.N. Johnson. 2008. Using logic to evaluate forest ecosystem sustainability. Forest Criteria and Indicators Analytical Framework and Report Workshop. 18–21 May 2008, Joensuu, Finland. Gen. Tech Rep. WO-GTR-81.PDFJensen, M., K. Reynolds, U. Langner, and M. Hart. 2009. Application of logic and decision models in sustainable ecosystem management. 2009. Proceedings of the 42nd Hawaii International Conference on Systems Sciences. Waikoloa, Hawaii. 5–8 January 2009. PDF