Abstract
Restoration of depleted populations is an important method in biological conservation. Reintroduction strategies frequently aim to restore stable, increasing, self-sustaining populations. Knowledge of asymptotic system dynamics may provide advantage in selecting reintroduction strategies. We introduce interactive software that is designed to identify strategies for release of females that are immediately aligned with stable population dynamics from species represented by 2-, 3-, 4-, and 5-stage life history strategies. The software allows managers to input a matrix of interest, the desired number of breeding females, and the desired management timeline, and calls upon stable population theory to give release strategies that are in concert with both stable population status and the management goals. We demonstrate how the software can aid in assessing various strategies ahead of a hypothetical restoration. For the purpose of demonstration of the tool only, we use published vital rates of an ungulate species, but remark that the selection of species for demonstration is not central to the use of this tool. Adaption of this tool to real-life restorations of any 2-, 3-, 4-, or 5-stage iteroparous species may aid in understanding how to minimize undesirable recovery complications that may naturally arise from transient population dynamics. The software is freely available at: https//cwhl.vet.cornell.edu/tools/stapopd.
Highlights
Global biodiversity loss has prompted diverse efforts to stem or reverse declines for many species (Kissel et al, 2014)
We introduce software that generates reintroduction strategies that are immediately aligned with long-established equations of stable population theory
The software shows that 335 total female individuals must be released at T = 0 to align a restoration with stable population dynamics to theoretically produce 100 breeding females in 7 years’ time
Summary
Global biodiversity loss has prompted diverse efforts to stem or reverse declines for many species (Kissel et al, 2014). Restoration plans regularly aim to recover critically low populations to some predetermined level (Wiedenmann, Fujiwara & Mangel, 2009). We introduce software that generates reintroduction strategies that are immediately aligned with long-established equations of stable population theory. The software written in R programming language (RStudio Team, 2015; R Core Team, 2018; R Shiny, 2018), and is designed to aid in planning ahead of restorative reintroductions of iteroparous floral or faunal species with 2-, 3-, 4-, or 5-stages in their life history. How to cite this article Hanley BJ, Bunting EM, Schuler KL. How can we augment the few that remain? Using stable population dynamics to aid reintroduction planning of an iteroparous species.
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