Reference vs. present-day condition: Early planning decisions influence the achievement of conservation objectives

1. A vast scientific literature has been devoted to identifying the best way to represent biodiversity for conservation in the last decade. Methods exist for deciding how to use scarce information and avoid omission and commission errors. The effect of these errors on reserve efficiency does not arise only from the accuracy of data representing conservation features, as usually considered. There are also several underlying assumptions associated with the type of data used that might affect accuracy of conservation decision-making and compromise achievement of conservation objectives