Testimonials to reconstruct past abundances of wildlife populations
International audience Long-term monitoring of wildlife populations has greatly contributed to our current understanding of population dynamics and ecosystem functioning. Despite tireless field campaigns, however, only a fraction of the biodiversity has been monitored to date and the dynamics of pot...
Published in: | Basic and Applied Ecology |
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Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
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2022
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Online Access: | https://hal.science/hal-04134438 https://hal.science/hal-04134438/document https://hal.science/hal-04134438/file/BBAE68_2023.pdf https://doi.org/10.1016/j.baae.2022.11.005 |
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ftunivrochelle:oai:HAL:hal-04134438v1 2024-02-11T10:01:10+01:00 Testimonials to reconstruct past abundances of wildlife populations Bolduc, David Fauteux, Dominique Gagnon, Catherine, A Gauthier, Gilles Bêty, Joël Legagneux, Pierre CHU de Québec–Université Laval Université Laval Québec (ULaval) Cabinet-conseil Érébia - 300 ch. De la Pointe-aux-Anglais, Québec, Canada Université du Québec à Rimouski (UQAR) Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé - UMR 7372 (CEBC) La Rochelle Université (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE) 2022-11-24 https://hal.science/hal-04134438 https://hal.science/hal-04134438/document https://hal.science/hal-04134438/file/BBAE68_2023.pdf https://doi.org/10.1016/j.baae.2022.11.005 en eng HAL CCSD Elsevier info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1016/j.baae.2022.11.005 hal-04134438 https://hal.science/hal-04134438 https://hal.science/hal-04134438/document https://hal.science/hal-04134438/file/BBAE68_2023.pdf doi:10.1016/j.baae.2022.11.005 WOS: 000955822500001 info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess ISSN: 1439-1791 Basic and Applied Ecology https://hal.science/hal-04134438 Basic and Applied Ecology, 2022, 68, pp.23 - 34. ⟨10.1016/j.baae.2022.11.005⟩ Monitoring Mustela erminea Population Past abundances Social sciences Testimonials [SDE]Environmental Sciences info:eu-repo/semantics/article Journal articles 2022 ftunivrochelle https://doi.org/10.1016/j.baae.2022.11.005 2024-01-23T23:34:11Z International audience Long-term monitoring of wildlife populations has greatly contributed to our current understanding of population dynamics and ecosystem functioning. Despite tireless field campaigns, however, only a fraction of the biodiversity has been monitored to date and the dynamics of potential key species have yet to be understood. Here, we propose a method based on testimonials of observations from field workers to reconstruct past abundances of unmonitored populations and fill data gaps. We contacted scientists who conducted field work at the Bylot Island field station, Nunavut, in the Canadian Arctic between 1991 and 2019 and collected 205 testimonials of past observations from 131 participants. We scored each testimonial based on its content and derived annual abundance indices for three highly fluctuating taxa, being lemmings, snowy owls and ermines. These indices were compared to standardized abundance estimates based on field sampling that were either available between 1993 and 2019 (lemmings and snowy owls) or 2007-2019 (ermines). Our results show that abundance indices based on testimonials correlate well with those from systematic sampling and can be used to detect ecological phenomena. Moreover, we show that abundance indices were not affected by the effort of participants in the field or the delay between the observations and the collection of testimonials. Finally, we use the received testimonials to generate the longest ermine time series of relative abundance in the Canadian Arctic, spanning 29 years. Monitoring programs and research stations often have access to a pool of past participants (e.g. field workers, ecotourists) whose observations can be localized in time. As we strive to gain a deeper understanding of ecosystem functioning, tapping the memories of these people can provide valuable information on the past abundances of unmonitored populations and help answer hypotheses that would otherwise require years of systematic monitoring. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Bylot Island Ermine Mustela erminea Nunavut HAL - Université de La Rochelle Arctic Bylot Island Nunavut Basic and Applied Ecology 68 23 34 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
HAL - Université de La Rochelle |
op_collection_id |
ftunivrochelle |
language |
English |
topic |
Monitoring Mustela erminea Population Past abundances Social sciences Testimonials [SDE]Environmental Sciences |
spellingShingle |
Monitoring Mustela erminea Population Past abundances Social sciences Testimonials [SDE]Environmental Sciences Bolduc, David Fauteux, Dominique Gagnon, Catherine, A Gauthier, Gilles Bêty, Joël Legagneux, Pierre Testimonials to reconstruct past abundances of wildlife populations |
topic_facet |
Monitoring Mustela erminea Population Past abundances Social sciences Testimonials [SDE]Environmental Sciences |
description |
International audience Long-term monitoring of wildlife populations has greatly contributed to our current understanding of population dynamics and ecosystem functioning. Despite tireless field campaigns, however, only a fraction of the biodiversity has been monitored to date and the dynamics of potential key species have yet to be understood. Here, we propose a method based on testimonials of observations from field workers to reconstruct past abundances of unmonitored populations and fill data gaps. We contacted scientists who conducted field work at the Bylot Island field station, Nunavut, in the Canadian Arctic between 1991 and 2019 and collected 205 testimonials of past observations from 131 participants. We scored each testimonial based on its content and derived annual abundance indices for three highly fluctuating taxa, being lemmings, snowy owls and ermines. These indices were compared to standardized abundance estimates based on field sampling that were either available between 1993 and 2019 (lemmings and snowy owls) or 2007-2019 (ermines). Our results show that abundance indices based on testimonials correlate well with those from systematic sampling and can be used to detect ecological phenomena. Moreover, we show that abundance indices were not affected by the effort of participants in the field or the delay between the observations and the collection of testimonials. Finally, we use the received testimonials to generate the longest ermine time series of relative abundance in the Canadian Arctic, spanning 29 years. Monitoring programs and research stations often have access to a pool of past participants (e.g. field workers, ecotourists) whose observations can be localized in time. As we strive to gain a deeper understanding of ecosystem functioning, tapping the memories of these people can provide valuable information on the past abundances of unmonitored populations and help answer hypotheses that would otherwise require years of systematic monitoring. |
author2 |
CHU de Québec–Université Laval Université Laval Québec (ULaval) Cabinet-conseil Érébia - 300 ch. De la Pointe-aux-Anglais, Québec, Canada Université du Québec à Rimouski (UQAR) Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé - UMR 7372 (CEBC) La Rochelle Université (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE) |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Bolduc, David Fauteux, Dominique Gagnon, Catherine, A Gauthier, Gilles Bêty, Joël Legagneux, Pierre |
author_facet |
Bolduc, David Fauteux, Dominique Gagnon, Catherine, A Gauthier, Gilles Bêty, Joël Legagneux, Pierre |
author_sort |
Bolduc, David |
title |
Testimonials to reconstruct past abundances of wildlife populations |
title_short |
Testimonials to reconstruct past abundances of wildlife populations |
title_full |
Testimonials to reconstruct past abundances of wildlife populations |
title_fullStr |
Testimonials to reconstruct past abundances of wildlife populations |
title_full_unstemmed |
Testimonials to reconstruct past abundances of wildlife populations |
title_sort |
testimonials to reconstruct past abundances of wildlife populations |
publisher |
HAL CCSD |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://hal.science/hal-04134438 https://hal.science/hal-04134438/document https://hal.science/hal-04134438/file/BBAE68_2023.pdf https://doi.org/10.1016/j.baae.2022.11.005 |
geographic |
Arctic Bylot Island Nunavut |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Bylot Island Nunavut |
genre |
Arctic Bylot Island Ermine Mustela erminea Nunavut |
genre_facet |
Arctic Bylot Island Ermine Mustela erminea Nunavut |
op_source |
ISSN: 1439-1791 Basic and Applied Ecology https://hal.science/hal-04134438 Basic and Applied Ecology, 2022, 68, pp.23 - 34. ⟨10.1016/j.baae.2022.11.005⟩ |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1016/j.baae.2022.11.005 hal-04134438 https://hal.science/hal-04134438 https://hal.science/hal-04134438/document https://hal.science/hal-04134438/file/BBAE68_2023.pdf doi:10.1016/j.baae.2022.11.005 WOS: 000955822500001 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.baae.2022.11.005 |
container_title |
Basic and Applied Ecology |
container_volume |
68 |
container_start_page |
23 |
op_container_end_page |
34 |
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1790596925072867328 |