A new method for identifying rapid decline dynamics in wild vertebrate populations. Issue 7 (14th June 2013)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Fonzo, Martina Di; Collen, Ben; Mace, Georgina M.
• Is Part Of: Ecology and evolution. Volume 3:Issue 7(2013:Jul.)
• Page Start: 2378
• Page End: 2391
• Publication Date: 2013-06-14
• Subjects: Conservation prioritization -- curve fitting -- extinction risk -- second derivative switch points -- threatening process; Ecology -- Periodicals; Evolution -- Periodicals; 577.05
• DOI: 10.1002/ece3.596
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2045-7758

Abstract

Abstract: Tracking trends in the abundance of wildlife populations is a sensitive method for assessing biodiversity change due to the short time‐lag between human pressures and corresponding shifts in population trends. This study tests for proposed associations between different types of human pressures and wildlife population abundance decline‐curves and introduces a method to distinguish decline trajectories from natural fluctuations in population time‐series. First, we simulated typical mammalian population time‐series under different human pressure types and intensities and identified significant distinctions in population dynamics. Based on the concavity of the smoothed population trend and the algebraic function which was the closest fit to the data, we determined those differences in decline dynamics that were consistently attributable to each pressure type. We examined the robustness of the attribution of pressure type to population decline dynamics under more realistic conditions by simulating populations under different levels of environmental stochasticity and time‐series data quality. Finally, we applied our newly developed method to 124 wildlife population time‐series and investigated how those threat types diagnosed by our method compare to the specific threatening processes reported for those populations. We show how wildlife population decline curves can be used to discern between broad categories of pressure or threat types, but do not work for detailed threat attributions. More usefully, we find that differences in population decline curves can reliably identify populations where pressure is increasing over time, even when data quality is poor, and propose this method as a cost‐effective technique for prioritizing conservation actions between populations. Abstract : This study introduces a method for diagnosing rapid declines caused by increasing pressure, which could be extendible to any wildlife populations. This method could be used by resource managers to prioritize which population decline to tackle first. Our study supplements current extinction‐risk analyses, focused solely on percentage change in population size.