Modern Wild Faunal Resource System Management
| [ Web site Home | The Course's Home | Table of Contents | The Finder | Glossary ] |
The equation for the objective that shows up in several units of the course is:
| P | I | T | |||||||
| B* | = | |
|
|
Dpit | Vpit | Epit | [Spit ] | H |
The faunal system manager is trying to maximize the actual benefitsB or move it toward the desired system performance index B*. It's related to people's demand (all people, P) over the entire planning period time, T, and for all of the separate items demanded, (I)
Take quail or bobwhites as an example. The manager works on one such element of demand as quail, studies the units and defines the unit of demand as "quail covey flushes" (since birds change quickly, coveys merge and split, and population estimation is variable and almost impossible. The manager works on changing demand, D by making speeches, explaining changing land use, working with dog-enthusiasts, providing newspaper accounts of agricultural change, and showing practices available for inspection on public lands, etc.
The value of the population...especially the flushes..., V, can be increased with pictures, notable people being interested, TV accounts of the life of the quail, and stories of notable population increases. The faunal space for nesting birds can be improved to increase the numbers. (Losses among the young are high.) Insecticide use may be discouraged or alternatives sought. Rapidly-changing land use is eliminating nesting areas. We're trying to get the number up to meet the product, that is of demand, D x value, V.
The risks of failure from all sources need to be reduced (i.e., to increase E which is 1.0 - risk of failure). We work on predators within the laws, work on feral cats, and work interactively with law enforcement people and those relating to free-running dogs. We may be able to protect areas but we need to keep forest timber rotations short so that we have the early stages of succession for insects and plant foods for adults as well as young especially in the early spring. Managing "for" insect populations for the young in the early spring is crucial. Accident losses as well as predation is high. Maybe we can find some substitutes for the objective. Maybe call-counts of singing males (lonely bachelors) will suffice. Maybe organized monthly bird counts will suffice. Maybe use of dogs without bird removals will suffice for many people (since only 10% now hunt). Diversity may be gained by use of different areas, diversifying the hunting and sighting experiences, including involvement of people in hands-on-birds studies.
The changes over time can be critical and these need to be handled with managed "succession curves" described in the habitat section of Forest Faunal Systems.
The results are added for all people, for all species (here just one, the quail), over the planning period...hopefully very long such as 150 years or at least 2-3 timber rotations.
The manager is trying to maximize B and move it close to B* for the lowest possible cost,C, that is, the maximize the B/C ratio. This ratio cannot be related to conventional financial B/C ratios unless all terms can be brought to dollars or equivalents.
Other Resources:
[ Web site Home | Lasting Forests (Introductions) | Units of Lasting Forests | Ranging | Trevey | Forests | Wildlife Law Enforcement Systems | Antler Points | Species-Specific Management | Wilderness | Appendices | Ideas for Development | Disclaimer]
| Quick Access to the Contents of LastingForests.com |
|---|
This Web site is maintained by R. H.
Giles, Jr.
Send an email message - Questions, revisions?
Last revision January 18, 2004.