Investigators: Susan Piacenza, Selina Heppell (OSU), Paul Richards (NOAA SEFSC)
Monitoring must be accurate for biologists and managers to correctly classify population status and to evaluate if management actions are effective. My research evaluates demographic indicators of recovery and employs quantitative approaches that account for variability to simulate the dynamics of population decline and recovery, using sea turtles as case studies. I built the Sea Turtle Agent-Based Model (STABM) to form the basis of an assessment tool – Monitoring Strategy Evaluation (MoSE). MoSE experiments with monitoring to determine the best monitoring strategy to employ to ensure population assessments are accurate, especially in the face of environmental change.
Altogether, my research suggests certain life history traits of green sea turtles have important temporal variation that should be accounted for in population models. Furthermore, the legacy of anthropogenic impacts continues far into the recovery phase and influences the accuracy of population assessments. In some cases, increasing detection to 90% of nesting sea turtles does little to enhance accuracy of population assessments, and thus monitoring efforts should focus more on other elements of study design3. The quantitative tools I developed can be applied to other wildlife populations and will improve monitoring, resulting in better estimates of current population trends that, in turn, will enhance conservation planning for endangered species. I was supported by a NOAA – Sea Grant Population Dynamics Fellowship for this research.
Monitoring must be accurate for biologists and managers to correctly classify population status and to evaluate if management actions are effective. My research evaluates demographic indicators of recovery and employs quantitative approaches that account for variability to simulate the dynamics of population decline and recovery, using sea turtles as case studies. I built the Sea Turtle Agent-Based Model (STABM) to form the basis of an assessment tool – Monitoring Strategy Evaluation (MoSE). MoSE experiments with monitoring to determine the best monitoring strategy to employ to ensure population assessments are accurate, especially in the face of environmental change.
Altogether, my research suggests certain life history traits of green sea turtles have important temporal variation that should be accounted for in population models. Furthermore, the legacy of anthropogenic impacts continues far into the recovery phase and influences the accuracy of population assessments. In some cases, increasing detection to 90% of nesting sea turtles does little to enhance accuracy of population assessments, and thus monitoring efforts should focus more on other elements of study design3. The quantitative tools I developed can be applied to other wildlife populations and will improve monitoring, resulting in better estimates of current population trends that, in turn, will enhance conservation planning for endangered species. I was supported by a NOAA – Sea Grant Population Dynamics Fellowship for this research.