An individual based model of a sea turtle population to analyze effects of age dependent mortality
Authored by Yiannis G Matsinos, Antonios D Mazaris, Breckling Broder
Date Published: 2006
DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2006.04.012
Sponsors:
European Union
Greek Ministry of Education and Religious Affair
Platforms:
No platforms listed
Model Documentation:
Other Narrative
Flow charts
Model Code URLs:
Model code not found
Abstract
Effective conservation of wildlife species relies on our ability to
recognize interactions among critical life stages, leading to the design
of the appropriate protection measures. We developed an individual based
model to analyze the variability of extinction probabilities as a result
of interacting mortalities at different life stages of a sea turtle
population. We conducted several simulation with different combinations
of mortality rates for both terrestrial stages (i.e. egg and hatchling), and also for all marine stages of the species. To test and assess the
implication of the numerous simulation sets produced by the fluctuating
survival rates, counter plots were employed. The results of the
simulation analysis show that the pelagic stage has a significant effect
on population persistence. It is also apparent that increased survival
of the first year cohort could to some extent be beneficial for the
population. The need for additional demographic data and a better
understanding of the behavioral and biological processes is highlighted.
(c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Tags
Management
Dynamics
Viability
Conservation
ecology
Future
Green
Reproductive output
Atlantic
Number