Introducing the new prioritizr package for SyncroSim

ApexRMS recently released prioritizr SyncroSim, a new SyncroSim package for building and solving conservation planning problems using the prioritizr R package.

The prioritizr SyncroSim package gives prioritizr R a graphical user interface to allow users to run systematic conservation prioritization analyses without having to code or manage data and scenarios on their own. This is achieved by providing an alternative Windows interface to R via SyncroSim Studio while still supporting reproducibility through scripts written in R or Python using the rsyncrosim and pysyncrosim packages.

This new package runs in two stages in the SyncroSim model pipeline:

1. In the Base Prioritization stage, the package exposes all the essential functions of a prioritizr R workflow, from initializing a conservation problem with spatial or tabular input data, to adding an objective, target, decision type, and solver. More advanced features are included, such as adding constraints, penalties and feature weights.
2. In the Multi-Cost Prioritization stage, the analysis builds off a base prioritization scenario to contrast a conservation solution where no conservation costs are considered, to a solution that seeks to minimize cost across multiple cost-layers. Two methods are available: (1) Hierarchical, based on an expectation of which costs are sequentially more important to minimize; and (2) Equal, based on an expectation that all costs are equally important to minimize.

The prioritizr SyncroSim package also includes off-the-shelf visualizations of the results. This includes spatial results, such as mapping of the planning units selected for protection, as well as tabular results summarizing the representation of the ecological features of interest in the solution (ex. what proportion of species distribution is covered by the protected area). Model results can also be easily shared online for others to explore with SyncroSim Cloud.

Check out the prioritizr SyncroSim documentation for a guide on getting started with the package and for step-by-step tutorials on building spatial and tabular conservation problems. An example prioritizr SyncroSim library is also available to view and download from SyncroSim Cloud.