Setting population targets for mammals using body mass as a predictor of population persistence

Conservation planning and biodiversity assessments need quantitative targets to optimize planning options and assess the adequacy of current species protection. However, targets aiming at persistence require population-specific data, which limits their use in favor of fixed and non-specific targets, likely leading to unequal distribution of conservation efforts among species. Here we propose a method to derive equitable population targets, which are quantitative targets of population size that ensure equal probabilities of persistence across a set of species, and can be easily inferred from species-specific traits. We applied population dynamics models across a range of life-history traits representative for mammals, and estimated minimum viable population targets intrinsically related to species body mass. Our approach provides a compromise between pragmatic non-specific targets, and detailed context-specific estimates of population viability for which only limited data is available. It enables a first estimation of species-specific population targets based on a readily available trait, and thus allows setting equitable targets for population persistence in large-scale and multispecies conservation assessments and planning.

Keyword(s)

allometry, conservation biology, conservation target, extinction, minimum viable population, population viability analysis, wildlife, wildlife management

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Hilbers Jelle P., Santini Luca, Visconti Piero, Schipper Aafke M., Pinto Cecilia, Rondinini Carlo, Huijbregts Mark A. J. (2017). Setting population targets for mammals using body mass as a predictor of population persistence. Conservation Biology. 31 (2). 385-393. https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.12846, https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00353/46387/

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