Preselected areas, Ecuador, near minimum data set
Selects a near-minimum set of areas to represent all taxa at least once. This is a progressive rarity algorithm (Margules et al. 1988, Williams 1999a). First it selects all areas with taxa that are equally or more restricted than the representation goal. Then the algorithm follows a set of rules: rarest + next rarest + first encountered. The ruleset can be extended to five criteria by adding in "next rarest" two additional times. This is a rather time-consuming process; users should be prepared to wait several hours for completion of this analysis.