Horribly late with this post – we read the paper already in the spring. I hope I can still remember what we actually discussed.
The paper provides a very comprehensive framework for biodiversity conservation assessment. It consists of three components: (1) Modelling future habitat state, (2) Modelling persistence of individual surrogate entities, and (3) Integrating persistence across multiple entities. Each of these components can be implemented at various levels of refinement and sophistication, ranging from e.g. considering persistence as a siple binary function of area protected to complex metapopulation modelling accounting for landscape dynamics.The application of the framework is then discussed in the context of major forms of higher-leve assessment, calssified into five classes: (1) Optimal plan generation, (2) Priority mapping, (3) Interactive scenario evaluation, (4) Site-based assessment and (5) Monitoring and reporting whole-landscape conservation status.
Probably almost all published applications of systematic conservation assessment could be placed into one of the categories within the framework. But many of the proposed combinations of components and levels of complexity have not been implemented yet. Therefore the paper also provides guidelines for future research. Another obvious contribution of such a paper is that it summarizes what has been achieved so far, and has perhaps also a unifying function regarding the concepts and terminology in the field. Often people are talking about rocks as alternatives to stones, but meaning exactly the same thing (sorry for the lame metaphor!).
The paper is incredibly comprehesive, correct and accurate in every detail. The writers take no shortcuts to simplify at the cost of losing information. On the other hand, the extreme accuracy in technical detail and terminology also makes the paper rather laborious reading. At times also the high conceptual level at which the framework is described (to cover as much as possible!) can be rather demanding for the reader. Perhaps even more of practical examples accompanying the conceptual text would have made the reading more effortless.
In sum, not an easy piece of reading, but definitely worth the trouble for anyone seriously interested in conservation assessement methodology.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1472-4642.2010.00657.x