Formalising expert opinion through multi-attribute value functions: An application in landscape ecology

One of the main objectives of landscape ecology is to orient land-use planning by providing indications of optimal ecosystem patterning to support nature conservation. A frequent limitation to the practical use of the findings of landscape ecological studies is that they tend to focus on the identification and computation of indicators rather than on their interpretation and assessment. This paper presents and discusses the use of a methodology to formalise expert opinion through the elicitation of multi-attribute value functions. In particular, the value functions aim at assessing spatial indicators so as to provide an overall judgment of the viability of different ecosystem patches. The result consisted of the ranking of the ecosystems according to their degree of viability and therefore their suitability for nature conservation. The method of formalising expert opinion and knowledge complements traditional analyses based on the measurement of spatial ecological indicators.