Data from: Adapting environmental management to uncertain but inevitable change

Implementation of adaptation actions to protect biodiversity is limited by
uncertainty about the future. One reason for this is the fear of making
the wrong decisions caused by the myriad future scenarios presented to
decision-makers. We propose an adaptive management (AM) method for
optimally managing a population under uncertain and changing habitat
conditions. Our approach incorporates multiple future scenarios and
continually learns the best management strategy from observations, even as
conditions change. We demonstrate the performance of our AM approach by
applying it to the spatial management of migratory shorebird habitats on
the East Asian–Australasian flyway, predicted to be severely impacted by
future sea-level rise. By accounting for non-stationary dynamics, our
solution protects 25 000 more birds per year than the current best
stationary approach. Our approach can be applied to many ecological
systems that require efficient adaptation strategies for an uncertain
future.