Simple rules for ranking and optimally managing metapopulations

We present two ‘rules of thumb’ for metapopulation management. The first identifies an explicit formula for the persistence time of the population, and thus enables the population manager to form a priority species ranking by identifying those species most at risk of extinction. The second identifie...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Ecological modelling 2010-10, Vol.221 (21), p.2515-2520
Main Authors: Ross, J.V., Pollett, P.K.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Biological and medical sciences
Budgeting
Costs
Ecology
Extinction
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
General aspects. Techniques
Habitats
Management
Metapopulations
Methods and techniques (sampling, tagging, trapping, modelling...)
Networks
Optimization
Ranking
Risk
Rules of thumb
Spatially realistic
Stochasticity
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Summary:We present two ‘rules of thumb’ for metapopulation management. The first identifies an explicit formula for the persistence time of the population, and thus enables the population manager to form a priority species ranking by identifying those species most at risk of extinction. The second identifies an optimal management strategy that gives direction on how to alter the colonisation rate (creation or improvement of habitat corridors) and local extinction rate (restoring habitat quality or expanding habitat) in order to maximise the persistence time under a budgetary constraint. We employ a simple stochastic version of Levins (1969) metapopulation model, which is first calibrated to a more realistic spatial model. Our rules are tested on computer-generated patch networks and a model for malleefowl ( Leipoa ocellata) in the Bakara region of South Australia.
ISSN:0304-3800
1872-7026
DOI:10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2010.02.016