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In addition to adding the target name and ID fields, you may want to make sure that alltargets to be used in the Marxan analysis have been properly screened by experts, andstratified if necessary. For example, stratification is needed if the user wants to assigndifferent goals to the same target class that is spread across different geography settings(e.g. political boundaries, elevations or geologic zones). These stratified targets musthave both a unique name and ID defined. At a minimum, the targets should have theconservation goals defined. Remember, you can use either the GOAL field to define thegoals in specific units (number of occurrences, length, or area) or you can use the PROPfield to set up proportions (percentages). If you use the PROP field, Marxan will calculatethe appropriate target amount based on the proportion specified using a block definitionfile. If GOAL and PROP are both set, then the PROP variable will take precedence andthe GOAL variable will be ignored in the block definition. Also note that the proportionis based on the total amount defined in the puvspr.dat file. Before moving on to the nextstep, you are also going to need your planning units (with unique IDs), the optional statuslayer (e.g. protected areas) if using a status flag for locking in areas, and a method forextracting the optional cost parameter (e.g. ERS model).Once you click on Marxan Target Prep, a dialogbox appears that asks you to select the TargetLayer to Prepare and corresponding TargetName and ID Fields. You must also specify anoutput feature class (e.g. shapefile). A newfeature class will be created so make sure yougive it a descriptive name and have it writtenout to your Marxan working directory. Whenyou are ready, click OK and the new feature class will be created containing all theadditional fields and a new dialog box will appear, listing each unique target on the leftside and the fields to be populated along the top. The user can now enter the values ofeach field using the table previously prepared. Each field has the default value alreadyassigned but these num bers can be change d accordi ng to the conservation scenario thathas been set up in the data prep table. If you h ave many targ ets that need to be assignedth e same value, you can use the “Fill Down First Row” to automate the calculation of thefields using whatever values you enter i n the first row. These values w ill be duplicatedtoall other rows.When you are finished entering in all the values, recheck the numbers and press OK.Now add the new feature class to the map view and open the attribute table in order tomake sure that the fields have been created and they have been populated with the correctTNC Protected Area Tools (PAT) Version 3.0The Nature Conservancy, August 200960