Choosing optimal trigger points for ex situ, in toto conservation of single population threatened species

Many endangered species exist in only a single population, and almost all species that go extinct will do so from their last remaining population. Understanding how to best conserve these single population threatened species (SPTS) is therefore a distinct and important task for threatened species co...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2022-04, Vol.17 (4), p.e0266244-e0266244
Main Authors: Brown, Kaitlyn, Tambyah, Tamara, Fenwick, Jack, Grant, Patrick, Bode, Michael
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Biology and Life Sciences
Captivity
Conservation
Conservation of Natural Resources - methods
Decision support systems
Ecology and Environmental Sciences
Endangered & extinct species
Endangered Species
Evaluation
Extinct species
Extinction
Glyptemys insculpta
Managers
Methods
Physical Sciences
Population decline
Protection and preservation
Retrospective Studies
Threatened species
Trigger Points
Wildlife conservation
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Summary:Many endangered species exist in only a single population, and almost all species that go extinct will do so from their last remaining population. Understanding how to best conserve these single population threatened species (SPTS) is therefore a distinct and important task for threatened species conservation science. As a last resort, managers of SPTS may consider taking the entire population into captivity-ex situ, in toto conservation. In the past, this choice has been taken to the great benefit of the SPTS, but it has also lead to catastrophe. Here, we develop a decision-support tool for planning when to trigger this difficult action. Our method considers the uncertain and ongoing decline of the SPTS, the possibility that drastic ex situ action will fail, and the opportunities offered by delaying the decision. Specifically, these benefits are additional time for ongoing in situ actions to succeed, and opportunities for the managers to learn about the system. To illustrate its utility, we apply the decision tool to four retrospective case-studies of declining SPTS. As well as offering support to this particular decision, our tool illustrates why trigger points for difficult conservation decisions should be formulated in advance, but must also be adaptive. A trigger-point for the ex situ, in toto conservation of a SPTS, for example, will not take the form of a simple threshold abundance.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0266244