TY - JOUR
T1 - Integrated population models facilitate ecological understanding and improved management decisions
AU - Arnold, Todd W.
AU - Clark, Robert G.
AU - Koons, David N.
AU - Schaub, Michael
PY - 2018/2/1
Y1 - 2018/2/1
N2 - Integrated population models (IPMs) represent a formal statistical methodology for combining multiple data sets such as population counts, band recoveries, and fecundity estimates into a single unified analysis with dual objectives: better estimating population size, trajectory, and vital rates; and formally describing the ecological processes that generated these patterns. Although IPMs have been used in population ecology and fisheries management, their use in wildlife management has been limited. Data sets available for North American waterfowl are unprecedented in terms of time span (>60 years) and geographic coverage, and are especially well-suited for development of IPMs that could improve the understanding of population ecology and help guide future harvest and habitat management decisions. In this overview, we illustrate 3 potential benefits of IPMs: integration of multiple data sources (i.e., population counts, mark-recapture data, and fecundity estimates), increased precision of parameter estimates, and ability to estimate missing demographic parameters by reanalyzing results from a historical study of canvasbacks (Aythya valisineria). Drawing from our own published and unpublished work, we demonstrate how IPMs could be used to identify the critical vital rates that have had the greatest influence on population change in lesser scaup (Aythya affinis), evaluate potential mechanisms of harvest compensation for American black ducks (Anas rubripes), or prioritize the most appropriate places to conduct habitat management to benefit northern pintails (Anas acuta). Integrated population models provide a powerful platform for evaluating alternative hypotheses about population regulation and they have potential to advance the understanding of wildlife ecology and help managers make ecologically based decisions.
AB - Integrated population models (IPMs) represent a formal statistical methodology for combining multiple data sets such as population counts, band recoveries, and fecundity estimates into a single unified analysis with dual objectives: better estimating population size, trajectory, and vital rates; and formally describing the ecological processes that generated these patterns. Although IPMs have been used in population ecology and fisheries management, their use in wildlife management has been limited. Data sets available for North American waterfowl are unprecedented in terms of time span (>60 years) and geographic coverage, and are especially well-suited for development of IPMs that could improve the understanding of population ecology and help guide future harvest and habitat management decisions. In this overview, we illustrate 3 potential benefits of IPMs: integration of multiple data sources (i.e., population counts, mark-recapture data, and fecundity estimates), increased precision of parameter estimates, and ability to estimate missing demographic parameters by reanalyzing results from a historical study of canvasbacks (Aythya valisineria). Drawing from our own published and unpublished work, we demonstrate how IPMs could be used to identify the critical vital rates that have had the greatest influence on population change in lesser scaup (Aythya affinis), evaluate potential mechanisms of harvest compensation for American black ducks (Anas rubripes), or prioritize the most appropriate places to conduct habitat management to benefit northern pintails (Anas acuta). Integrated population models provide a powerful platform for evaluating alternative hypotheses about population regulation and they have potential to advance the understanding of wildlife ecology and help managers make ecologically based decisions.
KW - band recovery
KW - fecundity
KW - harvest surveys
KW - integrated population models
KW - survival
KW - waterfowl management
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U2 - 10.1002/jwmg.21404
DO - 10.1002/jwmg.21404
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85038224077
SN - 0022-541X
VL - 82
SP - 266
EP - 274
JO - Journal of Wildlife Management
JF - Journal of Wildlife Management
IS - 2
ER -