Decision Support Literature Review

[abigailkeller]

1. Title of the Manuscript Project:
   A taxonomy of “decision support” in conservation and ecology

2. Short overview paragraph:
   Conservation practice occurs within complex socioecological systems, requiring methods for linking scientific knowledge to action. This translational practice is commonly referred to as “decision support”, yet this term is often used abstractly and variably. The way in which decisions can be supported ranges widely, including facilitating participatory and co-production processes, developing tools to evaluate trade-offs and allow transparency in decision-making, optimizing actions to navigate uncertainty and accelerate learning, and delivering information in alignment with the spatial and temporal scales of a decision.
   We will conduct a systematic review of literature describing decision support frameworks in conservation and ecology. We will analyze the 1) methods used, 2) primary objectives of the framework, and 3) the language reflecting the authors’ conceptualization of “decision support”. We will compare how these methods, objectives, and conceptualizations vary across time and subfields of conservation and ecology, and we will develop a taxonomy of “decision support” that relates decision challenges to the methods and processes used to meet these challenges. This taxonomy will be useful for understanding the landscape and varied perspectives of conservation decision support, identifying gaps and trends, and enabling self-reflection.

3. Email contact information for the project lead:
   Abby Keller (agkeller@berkeley.edu)

4. Participant list:
   Alison Gerken, Charlotte Malmborg, Abby Keller, Jody Peters, Collin VanBuren, Alexis O’Callahan, Janet Nackoney, Yishen Li

5. Estimated timeline:
   We aim to collect literature review data by the EFI conference in August 2026, and use time at the conference to collaboratively interpret results.

6. Co-authorship guidelines that list ways people can participate:
   The co-authors are looking for other collaborators and co-authors to 1) concept development, 2) assist in data collection during literature review, 3) analyze literature review data, and/or 4) draft a manuscript.

7. Any other details that are important to share with potential co-authors:
   None

[melissakenney]

Hi @abigailkeller - just tagging our team here as excited contributors after our conversation last week.

[duenasma]

Hi Abigail,
I saw your post looking for co-authors for a systematic review and wanted to express my interest. I’d be glad to collaborate on this review. My background is in freshwater ecology, impacts of invasive species on biodiversity, and systematic reviews. I’d be happy to contribute to screening, data extraction, and analysis. Please let me know how best to connect.
All the best,
Manuel-Angel

[abigailkeller]

Hi @duenasma Thanks for reaching out! We have a regular meeting scheduled to discuss, and we'd love to have you join. Do you want to send me an email, and I can send more details? agkeller@berkeley.edu