Conservation of Wildlife Populations

L. Scott Mills is a Professor in the Wildlife Biology Program at The University of Montana. He was a 2009 John Simon Guggenheim Fellow, has received multiple NSF Awards, served on the Board of Governors for the North American Section of the Society for Conservation Biology, and has testified to Congress about the role of ethics in wildlife population biology research. Mills was an invited contributor to the 2007 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Report (IPCC) report, and to the Western Governors� Association Climate Change Working Group. His research and teaching integrates field studies with population models and genetic analyses to understand effects of human perturbations on wildlife populations. Mills' research on wildlife around the world – from snowshoe hares to marmots, mice to coyotes, bighorn sheep to snow leopards and tigers - has been covered in media outlets including Newsweek, National Geographic, The New York Times, Discovery Channel Canada, Science News, National Public Radio, Nature, Science, and The Nature of Things with David Suzuki.

• List of boxes ixPreface to second edition xiPreface to first edition xiiList of symbols xivAcknowledgments for second edition xvAcknowledgments for first edition xviPart I Background To Applied Population Biology 11 The Big Picture: Human Population Dynamics Meet Applied Population Biology 3Introduction 3Population Ecology of Humans 4Extinction Rates of Other Species 8Humans and Sustainable Harvest 12The Big Picture 13Further Reading 132 Designing Studies and Interpreting Population Biology Data: How Do We Know What We Know? 14Introduction 14Obtaining Reliable Facts Through Sampling 15Linking Observed Facts to Ideasmind Leads to Understanding 19Ethics and the Wildlife Population Biologist 29Summary 31Further Reading 323 Genetic Concepts and Tools To Support Wildlife Population Biology 33Introduction 33What Is Genetic Variation? 33Genetic Markers Used in Wildlife Population Biology 35Insights into Wildlife Population Biology Using Genetic Tools 43Summary 52Further Reading 534 Estimating Population Vital Rates 54Introduction 54Estimating Abundance and Density 54Survival Estimation 67Estimation of Reproduction 70Sex Ratio 71Summary 74Further Reading 75Part II Population Processes: The Basis For Management 775 The Simplest Way To Describe And Project Population Growth: Exponential or Geometric Change 79Introduction 79Fundamentals of Geometric or Exponential Growth 80Causes and Consequences of Variation in Population Growth 84Quantifying Exponential Population Growth in a Stochastic Environment 91Summary 96Further Reading 976 All Stage Classes Are Not Equal In Their Effects On Population Growth: Structured Population-Projection Models 98Introduction 98Anatomy of a Population-Projection Matrix 99How Timing of Sampling Affects the Matrix 100Projecting a Matrix Through Time Leads to Transient and Asymptotic Dynamics 103All Vital Rates are not Created Equal: Analytical Sensitivities and Elasticities 108Stochasticity in Age and Stage-Structured Populations 109Sensitivity Analysis in the Broad Sense to Help Evaluate Management Actions 113Fitness is Lambda, Selection is Management 116Case Studies Using Matrix Models to Guide Conservation Decision-Making 118Summary 124Further Reading 1257 Density-Dependent Population Change 126Introduction 126Negative Density Dependence 126The Logistic: One Simple Model of Negative Density-Dependent Population Growth 128Some Counterintuitive Dynamics: Limit Cycles and Chaos 133Positive Density Dependence 135Negative and Positive Density Dependence Operate Together 138Component Versus Demographic Outcomes of Density Dependence 140Summary 140Further Reading 1418 Predation and Wildlife Populations 142Introduction 142Does Predation Affect Prey Numbers? 143Factor 1. Determining How Predation Affects Prey Numbers: Predation Rate 145Factor 2. Determining How Predation Affects Prey Numbers: Compensation 150Factor 3. Determining How Predation Affects Prey Numbers: Who Gets Killed 152Summary 152Further Reading 1539 Genetic Variation and Fitness In Wildlife Populations 154Introduction 154Long-Term Benefits of Genetic Variation 154What Determines Levels of Genetic Variation in Populations? 155Quantifying the Loss of Heterozygosity: The Inbreeding Coefficient 161When Does Inbreeding Due to Genetic Drift Lead to Inbreeding Depression? 162Outbreeding Depression and the Loss of Local Adaptation 165Genetic Rescue, Genetic Restoration, and Long-Term Population Recovery 167Appropriate Levels of Genetic Connectivity 168Case Studies Where Genetic Rescue Meets the Real World 169Summary 173Further Reading 17410 Dynamics of Multiple Populations 175Introduction 175What Is Connectivity? 176Consequences of Connectivity for Wildlife Populations 177Measuring Connectivity Among Wildlife Populations 177Multiple Populations are not All Equal 185Options for Restoring Connectivity 194Summary 197Further Reading 198Part III Applying Knowledge of Population Processes To Problems of Declining, Small, or Harvestable Populations 19911 Human-Caused Stressors: Deterministic Factors Affecting Populations 201Introduction 201General Effects of Deterministic Stressors on Populations: Adapt, Move, or Die 201Habitat Loss and Fragmentation 203Introduced and Invasive Species 206Pollution 212Overharvest 214Global Climate Change 215Multiple Deterministic Stressors Occur Simultaneously 220Summary 222Further Reading 22312 Predicting The Dynamics of Small and Declining Populations 224Introduction 224Ecological Characteristics Predicting Risk 224The Extinction Vortex 226Predicting Risks in Small Populations 226Population Viability Analysis (PVA): Quantitative Methods of Assessing Viability 227Other Approaches to Assessing Viability 239Summary 242Further Reading 24313 Focal Species To Bridge From Populations To Ecosystems 244Introduction 244The Four Categories of Focal Species 245Summary 249Further Reading 25014 Population Biology To Guide Sustainable Harvest 251Introduction 251Effects of Hunting on Population Dynamics 252Long-Term Effects: Hunting as an Evolutionary Force 257Models to Guide Sustainable Harvest 258Waterfowl Harvest and Adaptive Harvest Management in the US 264Management of Overabundant and Pest Populations 265Summary 266Further Reading 267Epilogue 269References 271Index 301

“Once again, Conservation of Wildlife Populations: Demography, Genetics, and Management is a great contribution to the current wildlife literature and will no doubt prove to be an excellent and indispensible resource when training wildlife biologists, upper level undergraduate students, and graduate students.”  (The Journal of Wildlife Management, 2 January 2015)“As a class text it offers an extremely useful and stimulating comprehensive integration of conservation and population biology, including clear, readable scientific basics.”  (Austral Ecology, 19 May 2014)“Summing Up: Recommended.  Lower-division undergraduates through researchers/faculty.  (Choice, 1 November 2013)