Publication Details

Category Text Publication
Reference Category Journals
DOI 10.1186/1756-0500-5-313
Title (Primary) Establishment probability in newly founded populations
Author Gusset, M.; Müller, M.S.; Grimm, V.
Source Titel BMC Research Notes
Year 2012
Department OESA
Volume 5
Page From art. 313
Language englisch
Abstract

Background

Establishment success in newly founded populations relies on reaching the established phase, which is defined by characteristic fluctuations of the population's state variables. Here, we present a method to quantify the establishment probability of newly founded populations. To determine a critical initial number of individuals that need to be released to reach the established phase, we used a novel application of the "Wissel plot", where -ln(1 - P0(t)) is plotted against time t. This plot is based on the equation P0(t) = 1 - c1 exp(-w1 t), which relates the probability of extinction by time t, P0(t), to two constants: c1 describes the probability of a newly founded population to reach the established phase, whereas w1 describes the population's probability of extinction per short time interval once established.

Results

For illustration, we applied the method to a previously developed model of the endangered African wild dog (Lycaon pictus). A newly founded population reaches the established phase if the intercept of the (extrapolated) linear parts of the "Wissel plot" with the y-axis, which is -ln(c1), is negative. For wild dogs in our model, this is the case if a critical initial number of four packs, consisting of eight individuals each, are released.

Conclusions

The method we present to quantify the establishment probability of newly founded populations is generic and inferences thus are transferable to other systems across the field of conservation biology. In contrast to other methods, our approach disaggregates the components of a population's viability by distinguishing establishment from persistence.

Persistent UFZ Identifier https://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=20939&ufzPublicationIdentifier=12559
Gusset, M., Müller, M.S., Grimm, V. (2012):
Establishment probability in newly founded populations
BMC Res. Notes 5 , art. 313 10.1186/1756-0500-5-313