Eacker Daniel R, Hebblewhite Mark, Steenweg Robin, Russell Mike, Flasko Amy, Hervieux Dave
Wildlife Biology Program Department of Ecosystem and Conservation Sciences W. A. Franke College of Forestry and Conservation University of Montana Missoula MT 59812 USA.
Alberta Environment and Parks - Operations Division 1601 Provincial Building, 10320-99 Street Grande Prairie AB T8V 6J4 Canada.
Wildl Soc Bull. 2019 Mar;43(1):167-177. doi: 10.1002/wsb.950. Epub 2019 Mar 5.
Woodland caribou () are threatened in Canada, with population and distribution declines evident in most regions of the country. Causes of declines are linked to landscape change from forest fires and human development, notably forestry oil and gas activities, which result in caribou habitat loss and affect ecosystem food webs. The Federal Species at Risk Act requires effective protection and restoration of caribou habitat, with actions to increase caribou survival. These requirements call for effective monitoring of caribou population trends to gauge success. Many woodland caribou populations are nearly impossible to count using traditional aerial survey methods, but demographic-based monitoring approaches can be used to estimate population trends based on population modeling of vital rates from marked animals. Monitoring programs have used a well-known simple population model (the Recruitment-Mortality [R/M] equation) to estimate demographic rates for woodland caribou, but have faced challenges in managing large data streams and providing transparency in the demographic estimation process. We present a stand-alone statistical software application using open-source software to permit efficient, transparent, and replicable demographic estimation for woodland caribou populations. We developed an easy-to-use, interactive web-based application for the R/M population model that uses a Bayesian estimation approach and provides the user flexibility in choice of prior distributions and other output features. We illustrate the web-application to the A la Pêche Southern Mountain (Central Group) woodland caribou population in west-central Alberta, Canada, during 1998-2017. Our estimates of population demographics are consistent with previous research on this population and highlight the utility of the application in assessing caribou population responses to species recovery actions. We provide example data, computer code, the web-based application package, and a user manual to guide installation and use. We also review underlying assumptions and challenges of population monitoring in this case study. We expect our software will contribute to efficient monitoring of woodland caribou and help in the assessment of recovery actions for this species. © 2019 The Authors. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
林地驯鹿（）在加拿大受到威胁，该国大部分地区的种群数量和分布都明显下降。数量下降的原因与森林火灾和人类开发导致的景观变化有关，特别是林业、石油和天然气活动，这些活动导致驯鹿栖息地丧失，并影响生态系统食物网。《联邦濒危物种法案》要求有效保护和恢复驯鹿栖息地，并采取行动提高驯鹿的存活率。这些要求需要对驯鹿种群趋势进行有效监测，以评估成效。使用传统的航空调查方法几乎不可能统计许多林地驯鹿种群的数量，但基于种群统计学的监测方法可用于根据标记动物的生命率进行种群建模来估计种群趋势。监测项目使用了一个著名的简单种群模型（招募 - 死亡率[R/M]方程）来估计林地驯鹿的种群统计学参数，但在管理大量数据流以及在种群统计学估计过程中提供透明度方面面临挑战。我们展示了一个使用开源软件的独立统计软件应用程序，用于对林地驯鹿种群进行高效、透明且可重复的种群统计学估计。我们为R/M种群模型开发了一个易于使用的交互式基于网络的应用程序，该应用程序使用贝叶斯估计方法，并为用户提供了选择先验分布和其他输出特征的灵活性。我们将这个网络应用程序应用于1998 - 2017年加拿大艾伯塔省中西部的阿 la Pêche南山（中央组）林地驯鹿种群。我们对种群统计学的估计与之前对该种群的研究一致，并突出了该应用程序在评估驯鹿种群对物种恢复行动的反应方面的效用。我们提供示例数据、计算机代码、基于网络的应用程序包以及用户手册，以指导安装和使用。我们还在这个案例研究中回顾了种群监测的基本假设和挑战。我们期望我们的软件将有助于对林地驯鹿进行高效监测，并有助于评估该物种的恢复行动。© 2019作者。由威利期刊公司出版。
