Definitions, Acronyms and Abbreviations

Table 1. Table of terms, acronyms, and abbreviations

Terms	Definition
RESTORE Goals	Five goals established by the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration (RESTORE) Council Comprehensive Plan following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. These goals serve as a framework for helping to restore the ecosystems and economies of the Gulf Coast region.
Priority Attributes	Features identified by SCA stakeholders that more specifically define conservation goals, while still fitting within the RESTORE goals framework. Priority attributes are quantified using measures.
SCA Data Measures	Measures are quantifiable indicators that directly represent the priority attributes. To be included in the database, measures must have Gulf-wide data and have relevance to land conservation.
User Preference	User preference is taken into account through the setting of data measure and goal weights. This allows users to emphasize certain priorities within the RESTORE goal framework (e.g., community resilience).
Goal Weights	When using the CPT and CVT, goal weights are set by the user to emphasize specific RESTORE goals (see above). All five weights must sum to 100 (e.g., equal weighting of goals = a weight of 20 per goal).
Measure Weights	When using the CPT and CVT, measure weights are set by the user to emphasize certain priority attributes (see above). Measures can be weighted zero, low, medium, or high based on the user’s priorities.
Utility Function	Utility functions are mathematical representations of how an individual prefers varying values of a single measure. By changing utility functions, individuals can choose between a lower or higher measure value as their preference to achieve the desired outcome. For example, an individual might consider “Threat of Urbanization” a positive or negative measure for land conservation. The positive utility function allows individuals to to prioritize areas with a lower Threat of Urbanization while the negative utility function allows individuals to prioritize areas with a higher Threat of Urbanization.
Multicriteria Decision Analysis (MCDA)	MCDA is a complex decision analysis method utilized in the CPT. This method allows areas of interest (AoIs) to be prioritized in a systematic way that incorporates alternative solutions, data measures, conservation goals, and user priorities.
Conservation Planning Inventory Tool (CIT)	The CIT catalogs an extensive list of projects and plans at the federal, state, county, and city level in the Gulf Coast region with direct ties to land conservation during the past 20 years.
Conservation Prioritization Tool (CPT)	The CPT allows users to explore and compare ecological and socioeconomic benefits of land conservation actions throughout the Gulf Coast region. To assess the value of lands being considered for conservation, the CPT uses a geodatabase of 22 measures within a multicriteria decision analysis framework (see above). The CPT also provides the user with summaries of raw geospatial data and utility values that may support conservation actions in identified project areas.
Conservation Visualization Tool (CVT)	The CVT allows users to visualize potential land conservation opportunities throughout the Gulf Coast region. Users can see where possible conservation opportunities are located and then narrow in on a site that maximizes alignment with strategic priorities.
Random Simulation	In multi-project mode of the CPT, the user can run a randomly weighted simulation to compare areas of interest. In the multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) simulation, user weights are not needed, instead the model assigns 100,000 random weights. The model then ranks individual areas of interest based on the number of times each of them ranked as 1, 2, ...n.
Hexagonal Framework	The SCA design region is partitioned into an equal hexagonal grid. (See CPT Design Method for more information)