Publication Details

Category Text Publication
Reference Category Journals
DOI 10.1111/cobi.12076
Document Shareable Link
Title (Primary) A protocol for better design, application, and communication of population viability analyses
Author Pe'er, G.; Matsinos, Y.G.; Johst, K.; Franz, K.W.; Turlure, C.; Radchuk, V.; Malinowska, A.H.; Curtis, J.M.R.; Naujokaitis-Lewis, I.; Wintle, B.A.; Henle, K.
Source Titel Conservation Biology
Year 2013
Department OESA; NSF
Volume 27
Issue 4
Page From 644
Page To 656
Language englisch
Keywords ecological modeling; meta-analysis; model documentation; risk assessment; science communication; standardized reporting; ciencia de la comunicación; documentación del modelo; evaluación de riesgo; meta análisis; modelación ecológica; reportaje estandarizado
UFZ wide themes RU1
Abstract Population viability analyses (PVAs) contribute to conservation theory, policy, and management. Most PVAs focus on single species within a given landscape and address a specific problem. This specificity often is reflected in the organization of published PVA descriptions. Many lack structure, making them difficult to understand, assess, repeat, or use for drawing generalizations across PVA studies. In an assessment comparing published PVAs and existing guidelines, we found that model selection was rarely justified; important parameters remained neglected or their implementation was described vaguely; limited details were given on parameter ranges, sensitivity analysis, and scenarios; and results were often reported too inconsistently to enable repeatability and comparability. Although many guidelines exist on how to design and implement reliable PVAs and standards exist for documenting and communicating ecological models in general, there is a lack of organized guidelines for designing, applying, and communicating PVAs that account for their diversity of structures and contents. To fill this gap, we integrated published guidelines and recommendations for PVA design and application, protocols for documenting ecological models in general and individual-based models in particular, and our collective experience in developing, applying, and reviewing PVAs. We devised a comprehensive protocol for the design, application, and communication of PVAs (DAC-PVA), which has 3 primary elements. The first defines what a useful PVA is; the second element provides a workflow for the design and application of a useful PVA and highlights important aspects that need to be considered during these processes; and the third element focuses on communication of PVAs to ensure clarity, comprehensiveness, repeatability, and comparability. Thereby, DAC-PVA should strengthen the credibility and relevance of PVAs for policy and management, and improve the capacity to generalize PVA findings across studies.
Persistent UFZ Identifier https://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=20939&ufzPublicationIdentifier=13728
Pe'er, G., Matsinos, Y.G., Johst, K., Franz, K.W., Turlure, C., Radchuk, V., Malinowska, A.H., Curtis, J.M.R., Naujokaitis-Lewis, I., Wintle, B.A., Henle, K. (2013):
A protocol for better design, application, and communication of population viability analyses
Conserv. Biol. 27 (4), 644 - 656 10.1111/cobi.12076