Applications to conservation biology

Abstract

This chapter describes how models can aid in managing populations to prevent extinction, given uncertainty about their state. From previous chapters, it is clear that avoiding extinction requires keeping both abundance and the replacement rate high. However, for both, the question remains, how high? The question of how high abundance should be to achieve a certain risk is addressed by existing population viability analyses (PVA). By contrast, the problem of maintaining high replacement has received little attention. This chapter describes how uncertainty in population parameters and the frequency spectrum of the environment both affect estimates of the probability of extinction, including examples of PVAs that pay greater attention to those complications. Additionally, an example is provided of tracking both abundance and replacement to avoid extinction for many different populations of a single taxon, Pacific salmon. Finally, the role of portfolio effects (diversity in variance among populations) is explored.