Comprendre la fabrique de l’utilisabilité des indicateurs de biodiversité. Le cas des dendromicrohabitats

Biodiversity indicators are generally quantitative measures used to summarise, illustrate and communicate complex phenomena relating to biodiversity in a simple way. An increasing number of biodiversity indicators have been recently developed to address different aspects of biodiversity, but their use is very uneven. This article examines the usability criteria for biodiversity indicators, where usability is understood as the assessment by stakeholders of the potential of these indicators to be taken into account in public decision-making and management processes, using the case of a forest biodiversity indicator, namely tree-related microhabitats. We have applied a now classic usability analysis framework to this case study, with a twofold objective: firstly, to understand the usability of this indicator; and secondly, to examine the capacity of the chosen analysis framework to account for it. Interviews with producers and users of the tree-related microhabitats indicator revealed that the usability criteria used in this analysis framework –credibility, relevance, legitimacy and feasibility– do play a role in the usability of tree-related microhabitats. However, they do not take into account important elements mentioned by the informants. In order to address these limitations, we propose two modifications to the usability criteria. Firstly, we suggest extending the legitimacy criterion to encompass dimensions pertaining to the substantial legitimacy of the indicator. Secondly, we propose incorporating the sensitive, aesthetic and moral dimensions of the indicator, which emerged as a central element of its feasibility for our informants. Our findings therefore lead us to recommend an approach to the usability of biodiversity indicators that attends to their sensitive, aesthetic and ethical dimensions. They also suggest that the usability of an indicator is not absolute but relative, and is embedded within a dynamic system of indicators.