Applied Ecosystem Services, LLC

It is widely accepted that raw data need to be converted to information (commonly by statistical analyses) and the results interpreted to form knowledge before informed decisions can be made. With biological data this process is not followed as frequently as it should. Modern spatial analyses and statistical models can provide valuable and useful information that is otherwise lost. Biological data are counts, presence/absence, proportions, and frequencies. They are not continuous variables with a true zero so the familiar parametric statistics cannot be used.

For enforcement of the Endangered Species Act federal regulators (the Fish & Wildlife Service and NOAA Fisheries/National Marine Fisheries Service) consider local populations and management units (stocks) to be species, regardless of biological theory. NOAA Fisheries calls these small groups “Evolutionarily Significant Units” (ESU); the US Fish & Wildlife Service calls them “Discrete Population Segments” (DPS). These political definitions affect how decisions are made regarding ESA-listed biota in the areas where businesses have their operations.