DOI Ecosystem Service Gap Analysis

An importance-performance analysis (IPA) tool was used to conduct the initial DOI ecosystem service gap analysis. IPA was originally employed to measure customer satisfaction and to refine marketing strategies associated with specific products. It was conceptualized as a tool to provide an understanding of the needs and desires of clients as part of the management-decision making process. The overall goal of IPA is to provide managers and decision makers with information to facilitate efficient resource allocation. IPA does not make final decisions; IPA is a tool that helps conceptualize the problem and inform decisions about how institutional resources can be allocated. The IPA method has been adapted to include quantitative (e.g. survey questionnaire) and qualitative (e.g. focus group) data collection
 IPA uses two questions rated on five-point scales to evaluate the importance of an issue or attribute and the institutional performance on that attribute. The results are displayed on a four-quadrant grid. Each of the quadrants is labeled based on the combination of results to the importance and performance questions. The initial lists of issues to be rated at the ecosystem services were generated from lists created by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and the Final Ecosystem Goods and Service. The IPA tool employed here investigated the importance and performance of data, tools, and research methods associated with specific ecosystem service contexts relevant to DOI land and water management.