Simulations inform design of regional occupancy-based monitoring for a sparsely distributed, territorial species.

Sparsely distributed species attract conservation concern, but insufficient information on population trends challenges conservation and funding prioritization. Occupancy-based monitoring is attractive for these species, but appropriate sampling design and inference depend on particulars of the study system. We employed spatially explicit simulations to identify minimum levels of sampling effort for a regional occupancy monitoring study design, using white-headed woodpeckers (), a sparsely distributed, territorial species threatened by habitat decline and degradation, as a case study.

The role of transient dynamics in stochastic population growth for nine perennial plants.

Most populations exist in variable environments. Two sets of theory have been developed to address this variability. Stochastic dynamics focus on variation in population growth rates based on random differences in vital rates such as growth, survival, and reproduction.

Spatially explicit power analyses for occupancy-based monitoring of wolverine in the U.S. Rocky Mountains.

Conservation scientists and resource managers often have to design monitoring programs for species that are rare or patchily distributed across large landscapes. Such programs are frequently expensive and seldom can be conducted by one entity. It is essential that a prospective power analysis be undertaken to ensure stated monitoring goals are feasible.

Ability of matrix models to explain the past and predict the future of plant populations.

Uncertainty associated with ecological forecasts has long been recognized, but forecast accuracy is rarely quantified. We evaluated how well data on 82 populations of 20 species of plants spanning 3 continents explained and predicted plant population dynamics. We parameterized stage-based matrix models with demographic data from individually marked plants and determined how well these models forecast population sizes observed at least 5 years into the future.

How do plant ecologists use matrix population models?

Matrix projection models are among the most widely used tools in plant ecology. However, the way in which plant ecologists use and interpret these models differs from the way in which they are presented in the broader academic literature. In contrast to calls from earlier reviews, most studies of plant populations are based on < 5 matrices and present simple metrics such as deterministic population growth rates.