ZonationR is a new tool that simplifies the use of Zonation to identify priority areas for biodiversity conservation. It brings all stages of the conservation planning analysis together in one automated and reproducible workflow and helps users systematically explore and compare alternative conservation scenarios.
ZonationR is designed for use with Zonation, a widely used software tool for identifying priority areas for biodiversity conservation. Zonation combines information on species distributions, habitat quality, ecosystem services and other relevant factors. Conservation planning increasingly relies on large, complex datasets and integrated modelling approaches, so there is a growing need for analytical workflows that are more efficient, transparent and reproducible.
Running Zonation has traditionally involved several manual steps. Users prepare the input files, run the software through a graphical interface or command line, and process the results separately, often in different software environments. These steps can become time-consuming and difficult to reproduce when there are multiple scenarios or repeated analyses. This is often the case in conservation planning, as researchers and practitioners need to explore how different objectives, methodological choices and constraints influence which areas are identified as priorities.
ZonationR simplifies this process by bringing the steps together in a single analytical environment, the R programming language. It automates input preparation, runs Zonation directly from R, and provides tools for processing, visualising and comparing the results of multiple analyses.
The tool also helps users examine conservation priorities from different perspectives and better understand the resulting patterns. Users can visualise priority maps, examine performance metrics, assess conservation costs, assess how much of each species or habitat is included in priority areas, and measure similarities between alternative prioritisation solutions.
With these features, researchers can systematically evaluate how methodological choices, such as algorithm settings, species weights and cost constraints, influence conservation priorities. Integration with R also makes it easier to connect Zonation with broader ecological workflows, including species distribution modelling.
The ZonationR package website supports self-guided learning and teaching with comprehensive documentation and step-by-step tutorials. These guide users through setting up analyses, exploring alternative conservation scenarios and interpreting the results. Reproducible examples and freely available spatial datasets allow users to follow the workflows and adapt them to their own research or teaching.
ZonationR is free and open-source. Its source code is available on GitHub , and the R package can be installed directly from CRAN .
Ecography
ZonationR: An R interface to the Zonation software for reproducible spatial conservation prioritisation workflows
13-Oct-2026