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A SYSTEMATIC APPROACH TO SOME ASPECTS OF CONSERVATION BIOLOGY
Author(s) -
Pease Craig M.,
Fowler Norma L.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.144
H-Index - 294
eISSN - 1939-9170
pISSN - 0012-9658
DOI - 10.1890/0012-9658(1997)078[1321:asatsa]2.0.co;2
Subject(s) - woodpecker , checklist , variance (accounting) , ecology , computer science , completeness (order theory) , conservation biology , variation (astronomy) , data science , management science , biology , habitat , mathematics , paleontology , mathematical analysis , physics , accounting , astrophysics , economics , business
A more systematic approach to conservation biology would be desirable for several reasons. It would reduce the biases that can arise from overlooking potentially important factors in conservation applications; it could help to clarify important definitions; and it could help to relate apparently disparate studies. We suggest that models adopted from the familiar models of analysis of variance (ANOVA) can provide such an approach and serve these purposes. We present such a model. Its terms provide a checklist that could be used to assess the completeness of databases, management plans, and theoretical models. Red‐cockaded Woodpecker ( Picoides borealis ) conservation is discussed as an example of the usage of this model as a checklist. The model presented here can also be used to clarify the definitions of some important concepts, especially the definitions of demographic stochasticity and environmental stochasticity, which different authors have sometimes used differently. This model provides a way of clarifying and communicating whatever definition an author may choose to use. Finally, we suggest that the model we present, or similar models also based upon ANOVA models, can be used to relate theoretical models to each other, and to empirical studies, by identifying the types of variation that are present or absent in each.