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The Species Conservation Toolkit Initiative (SCTI) is a suite of very
advanced software programs that guide conservationists as they try to
manage populations of these species, helping ensure the future of wildlife
in an ever-changing world. Over decades, the development of the SCTI
software has been led by the Chicago Zoological Society’s senior conservation
scientist, Robert Lacy, Ph.D., along with Jonathan Ballou, Ph.D., scientist
emeritus at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute.

While the software programs in SCTI together provide a powerful method
for combating species declines and extinctions, it’s instructive to take
a brief look at how each one contributes to this overarching goal.

What it is: Software that simulates
the extinction process for a particular
species. It factors in potential
environmental changes, habitat
alterations, food sources, human
threats, genetic diversity, and more
to determine how populations
are likely to change—for the
negative or positive—over time.
How it’s being used: Across the
western United States, Vortex software
is being used to assess strategies
to manage bison herds in national
parks and on other federal lands.
Vortex enables conservationists to
use molecular genetic data to find
out how isolating herds will impact
genetic diversity and to determine
the best strategies for coordinating
exchanges among bison herds to
counter these genetic threats.

The intricacy of
predator/prey
interactions becomes
more evident through
SCTI software.

28 GATEWAYS | POWER TOOLS