Wildlife population

A wildlife population or species population is the concept of "population" applied to any species other than humans. Understanding a wildlife population requires a census of the species, and the technique for accomplishing that vary depending on the species and circumstance. ^[1] Characteristics which define a wildlife population include population density, birth rate, mortality rate, age distribution, biotic potential, biological dispersal, and growth form. ^[2]

Methods for measuring wildlife populations include mark and recapture, distance sampling, and examining a harvest. ^[3] Biologists who survey wildlife populations often work in a business context where they balance maintaining quality data, but complete the survey quickly, and work at low cost. ^[4] Economic reasons for doing wildlife surveys can include harvesting wildlife, controlling disease, or negotiating conflicts between multiple business interests who claim control of a resource. ^[5]

Motivations for studying wildlife populations include wildlife conservation ^[6] and wildlife management. ^{[7] [8]}

Wildlife populations are declining globally at fast rates. The Living Planet Index reported that from 1970-2020, the global populations in freshwater ecosystems have decreased by 85%, Terrestrial animals by 69%, and marine life by 56%. ^[9] Counting the number of individuals in a population is key to predicting and identifying ecosystem collapse when populations of wildlife will go extinct. ^{[10] [11]} Population viability analysis is a method for determining if a population will go extinct in given circumstances. ^[12]

See also

• Wildlife conservation
• Population ecology
• Habitat fragmentation
• Wildlife management
• Conservation biology

References

1. Marshall, Howard Wight (1939). "Census Methods". Field and Laboratory Technic in Wildlife Management. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. pp. 23–30.
2. Odum, Eugene (1953). "Principles and Concepts Pertaining to Organization at the Species Population Level". Fundamentals of Ecology. Athens, Georgia: W. B. Saunders Company. p. 91.
3. Buckland, S. T.; Goudie, I. B. J.; Borchers, D. L. (March 2000). "Wildlife Population Assessment: Past Developments and Future Directions". Biometrics. 56 (1): 1–12. doi:10.1111/j.0006-341X.2000.00001.x.
4. Witmer, Gary W. (23 June 2005). "Wildlife population monitoring: some practical considerations". Wildlife Research. 32 (3): 259–263. doi:10.1071/WR04003.
5. Gren, Ing-Marie; Häggmark-Svensson, Tobias; Elofsson, Katarina; Engelmann, Marc (April 2018). "Economics of wildlife management—an overview". European Journal of Wildlife Research. 64 (2). doi:10.1007/s10344-018-1180-3.
6. Mills, L. Scott; Whiteley, Andrew R.; Tourani, Mahdieh (2025). Conservation of wildlife populations: applications of ecological, evolutionary, and genetic concepts (3 ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-0192898166.
7. Frankham, Richard (2017). Genetic Management of Fragmented Animal and Plant Populations. Oxford: Oxford University Press USA - OSO. ISBN   9780191086069.
8. Krausman, Paul R.; Cain III, James W., eds. (2022). Wildlife management and conservation: contemporary principles and practices (Second ed.). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN   978-1421443966.
9. WWF (October 10, 2024). 2024 Living Planet Report - A System in Peril. Gland, Switzerland. p. 7.
10. Cerini, Francesco; Childs, Dylan Z.; Clements, Christopher F. (26 January 2023). "A predictive timeline of wildlife population collapse". Nature Ecology & Evolution. 7 (3): 320–331. doi:10.1038/s41559-023-01985-2.
11. Ripple, William J.; Newsome, Thomas M.; Wolf, Christopher; Dirzo, Rodolfo; Everatt, Kristoffer T.; Galetti, Mauro; Hayward, Matt W.; Kerley, Graham I. H.; Levi, Taal; Lindsey, Peter A.; Macdonald, David W.; Malhi, Yadvinder; Painter, Luke E.; Sandom, Christopher J.; Terborgh, John; Van Valkenburgh, Blaire (May 2015). "Collapse of the world's largest herbivores". Science Advances. 1 (4). doi:10.1126/sciadv.1400103.
12. Lacy, Robert C. (January 2019). "Lessons from 30 years of population viability analysis of wildlife populations". Zoo Biology. 38 (1): 67–77. doi:10.1002/zoo.21468.