Conservation of erupting ungulate populations on islands – a comment
A generalised model for herbivores experiencing abundant forage over time is that their numbers erupt and then decline. This model has been applied to fluctuations in caribou (Rangifer tarandus) populations especially those on islands. Since this generalised model for erupting herbivores was first p...
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Septentrio Academic Publishing
2003
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Online Access: | https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/rangifer/article/view/361 https://doi.org/10.7557/2.23.2.361 |
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ftunitroemsoe:oai:ojs.henry.ub.uit.no:article/361 2023-05-15T18:03:54+02:00 Conservation of erupting ungulate populations on islands – a comment Gunn, Anne Miller, Frank L. Barry, Samuel J. 2003-04-01 application/pdf https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/rangifer/article/view/361 https://doi.org/10.7557/2.23.2.361 eng eng Septentrio Academic Publishing https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/rangifer/article/view/361/351 https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/rangifer/article/view/361 doi:10.7557/2.23.2.361 Copyright (c) 2015 Anne Gunn, Frank L. Miller, Samuel J. Barry http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ CC-BY Rangifer; Årg 23 Nr 2 (2003); 57-65 Rangifer; Vol 23 No 2 (2003); 57-65 1890-6729 crashes vs. declines caribou herbivore populations management vs. myths Rangifer tarandus info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion 2003 ftunitroemsoe https://doi.org/10.7557/2.23.2.361 2021-08-16T14:21:56Z A generalised model for herbivores experiencing abundant forage over time is that their numbers erupt and then decline. This model has been applied to fluctuations in caribou (Rangifer tarandus) populations especially those on islands. Since this generalised model for erupting herbivores was first proposed, two assumptions have slipped in (1) that an erupting population will crash; and (2) that the crash will be density-dependent. The problem with the assumptions is that, without testing, they can lead to inappropriate management such as culls. The first assumption arises from uncritical use of earlier accounts and the second assumption from not discriminating between the effects of environmental variation from the effects of the high herbivore numbers on forage availability (density-dependence). Often typical densitydependent effects such as lowered initial reproduction, reduced early survival of calves, and subsequent calf, yearling and juvenile survival are used to justify the contention that there are too many herbivores. But such reasoning is flawed unless cause/effect relationships are established and the role of environmental variation is evaluated. We argue that it is overly simplistic to believe that every population’s subsequent performance and fate will follow a singular pattern with only one paramount factor driving and ultimately dictating an inevitable outcome. The relative importance of unpredictable abiotic factors in influencing and causing variation in the response of ungulate populations should be investigated, no matter whether those factors are sporadic or periodic. Article in Journal/Newspaper Rangifer Rangifer tarandus University of Tromsø: Septentrio Academic Publishing Rangifer 23 2 57 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Tromsø: Septentrio Academic Publishing |
op_collection_id |
ftunitroemsoe |
language |
English |
topic |
crashes vs. declines caribou herbivore populations management vs. myths Rangifer tarandus |
spellingShingle |
crashes vs. declines caribou herbivore populations management vs. myths Rangifer tarandus Gunn, Anne Miller, Frank L. Barry, Samuel J. Conservation of erupting ungulate populations on islands – a comment |
topic_facet |
crashes vs. declines caribou herbivore populations management vs. myths Rangifer tarandus |
description |
A generalised model for herbivores experiencing abundant forage over time is that their numbers erupt and then decline. This model has been applied to fluctuations in caribou (Rangifer tarandus) populations especially those on islands. Since this generalised model for erupting herbivores was first proposed, two assumptions have slipped in (1) that an erupting population will crash; and (2) that the crash will be density-dependent. The problem with the assumptions is that, without testing, they can lead to inappropriate management such as culls. The first assumption arises from uncritical use of earlier accounts and the second assumption from not discriminating between the effects of environmental variation from the effects of the high herbivore numbers on forage availability (density-dependence). Often typical densitydependent effects such as lowered initial reproduction, reduced early survival of calves, and subsequent calf, yearling and juvenile survival are used to justify the contention that there are too many herbivores. But such reasoning is flawed unless cause/effect relationships are established and the role of environmental variation is evaluated. We argue that it is overly simplistic to believe that every population’s subsequent performance and fate will follow a singular pattern with only one paramount factor driving and ultimately dictating an inevitable outcome. The relative importance of unpredictable abiotic factors in influencing and causing variation in the response of ungulate populations should be investigated, no matter whether those factors are sporadic or periodic. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Gunn, Anne Miller, Frank L. Barry, Samuel J. |
author_facet |
Gunn, Anne Miller, Frank L. Barry, Samuel J. |
author_sort |
Gunn, Anne |
title |
Conservation of erupting ungulate populations on islands – a comment |
title_short |
Conservation of erupting ungulate populations on islands – a comment |
title_full |
Conservation of erupting ungulate populations on islands – a comment |
title_fullStr |
Conservation of erupting ungulate populations on islands – a comment |
title_full_unstemmed |
Conservation of erupting ungulate populations on islands – a comment |
title_sort |
conservation of erupting ungulate populations on islands – a comment |
publisher |
Septentrio Academic Publishing |
publishDate |
2003 |
url |
https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/rangifer/article/view/361 https://doi.org/10.7557/2.23.2.361 |
genre |
Rangifer Rangifer tarandus |
genre_facet |
Rangifer Rangifer tarandus |
op_source |
Rangifer; Årg 23 Nr 2 (2003); 57-65 Rangifer; Vol 23 No 2 (2003); 57-65 1890-6729 |
op_relation |
https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/rangifer/article/view/361/351 https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/rangifer/article/view/361 doi:10.7557/2.23.2.361 |
op_rights |
Copyright (c) 2015 Anne Gunn, Frank L. Miller, Samuel J. Barry http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.7557/2.23.2.361 |
container_title |
Rangifer |
container_volume |
23 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
57 |
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1766174971453767680 |