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Reconstructibility of Density Dependence and the Conservative Assessment of Extinction Risks
Author(s) -
GINZBURG LEV R.,
FERSON SCOTT,
AKÇAKAYA H. REŞIT
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
conservation biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.2
H-Index - 222
eISSN - 1523-1739
pISSN - 0888-8892
DOI - 10.1111/j.1523-1739.1990.tb00268.x
Subject(s) - extinction (optical mineralogy) , density dependence , population density , population , extinction probability , statistical physics , statistics , econometrics , mathematics , population size , physics , demography , optics , sociology
Abstract: The probability of extinction is sensitive to the presence and character of density dependence controlling the dynamics of a population. This means that our capacity to estimate a population's risks of extinction under varying environmental conditions or competing management regimes is linked to our ability to reconstruct from data the density‐dependence relationships governing the natural dynamics, especially when data do not reveal a trend of population growth or decline. In an example using Gadus morhua , we show that even 10‐ or 20‐year data sets are too short to make precise estimates of these risks. We also observe, however, that under moderate or weak density dependence, the computed risks are lower than when density dependence is not included in the model. We propose, therefore, that when available data sets are insufficient for reconstructing reliable measurements of density dependence, conservative estimates of extinction probabilities can be made from models that simply omit density dependence.