StaPOPd Web Interactive: Interactive software code to "How do we augment the few that remain? Using stable population dynamics to aid reintroduction planning of an iteroparous species"

Abstract

Threatened and endangered species can face many hazards including habitat loss, invasive species, disease, and climate change. While habitat conservation, legal protection, and other measures mitigate some of these pressures, local populations may still plummet to a point where local extinctions can occur, ultimately threatening the survival of the species. Reintroduction is a tool used by wildlife agencies to replenish a local population. Wildlife agencies may restore species by releasing disease-free animals raised in captivity, or by gathering and releasing animals from areas with healthy local populations. Often, the goal of restorative reintroduction is to produce a desired population level without the need for constant intervention. But how many individuals need to be released? Population modeling can help answer this question. Demographic models with population viability analysis (PVA) capabilities help wildlife managers understand the potential outcomes of different reintroduction strategies. Such models may assess reintroduction strategies using individual-based or population-based analyses. This interactive web-based application has been developed for wildlife managers to identify faunal reintroduction strategies that are immediately aligned with stable population theory.