Setting population targets for mammals using body mass as a predictor of population persistence
Type | Article | ||||||||||||||||
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Date | 2017-04 | ||||||||||||||||
Language | English | ||||||||||||||||
Author(s) | Hilbers Jelle P.1, Santini Luca1, 2, Visconti Piero3, 4, Schipper Aafke M.1, 5, Pinto Cecilia6, Rondinini Carlo2, Huijbregts Mark A. J.1, 5 | ||||||||||||||||
Affiliation(s) | 1 : Radboud Univ Nijmegen, Inst Wetland & Water Res, Dept Environm Sci, Fac Sci, POB 9010, NL-6500 GL Nijmegen, Netherlands. 2 : Sapienza Univ Roma, Dept Biol & Biotechnol, Global Mammal Assessment Program, Viale Univ 32, I-00185 Rome, Italy. 3 : Zool Soc London, Inst Zool, Regents Pk, London NW1 4RY, England. 4 : UCL, Ctr Biodivers & Environm Res, Gower St, London WC1E 6BT, England. 5 : PBL Netherlands Environm Assessment Agcy, POB 30314, NL-2500 GH The Hague, Netherlands. 6 : IFREMER, Ctr Manche Mer Nord, 150 Quai Gambetta,BP 699, F-62321 Boulogne Sur Mer, France. |
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Source | Conservation Biology (0888-8892) (Wiley), 2017-04 , Vol. 31 , N. 2 , P. 385-393 | ||||||||||||||||
DOI | 10.1111/cobi.12846 | ||||||||||||||||
WOS© Times Cited | 23 | ||||||||||||||||
Keyword(s) | allometry, conservation biology, conservation target, extinction, minimum viable population, population viability analysis, wildlife, wildlife management | ||||||||||||||||
Abstract | 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. | ||||||||||||||||
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