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DO HARVEST REFUGES BUFFER KANGAROOS AGAINST EVOLUTIONARY RESPONSES TO SELECTIVE HARVESTING?
Author(s) -
Tenhumberg Brigitte,
Tyre Andrew J.,
Pople Anthony R.,
Possingham Hugh P.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.144
H-Index - 294
eISSN - 1939-9170
pISSN - 0012-9658
DOI - 10.1890/03-4111
Subject(s) - biological dispersal , ecology , biology , seed dispersal , selection (genetic algorithm) , population , population size , demography , computer science , artificial intelligence , sociology
There is a wealth of literature documenting a directional change of body size in heavily harvested populations. Most of this work concentrates on aquatic systems, but terrestrial populations are equally at risk. This paper explores the capacity of harvest refuges to counteract potential effects of size‐selective harvesting on the allele frequency of populations. We constructed a stochastic, individual‐based model parameterized with data on red kangaroos. Because we do not know which part of individual growth would change in the course of natural selection, we explored the effects of two alternative models of individual growth in which alleles affect either the growth rate or the maximum size. The model results show that size‐selective harvesting can result in significantly smaller kangaroos for a given age when the entire population is subject to harvesting. In contrast, in scenarios that include dispersal from harvest refuges, the initial allele frequency remains virtually unchanged.