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• abundance (density, richness, etc.)
• age ratios
• sex ratios
• genetic groups (demes)

3. Use 3 categories: young, subadult, adult. (There is rarely data for any other categories.)

4. When there are a few animals in old age-classes, confidence about any statement about population dynamics is difficult to establish.

5. Use age classes to depict a survival curve.

6. Use age classes to depict a mortality curve.

7. Numbers in age classes are often distributed as the "reversed-J", the negative logarithm.

8. Young : old ratio is useful with sex ratios.

9. Calf : cow ratio is useful in understanding production.

10. Population analysis includes analyzing structure, dynamics, and relations.

11. Population dynamics is a study of the rates of change in populations. The study categories are:

• natality
• mortality
• survival
• migration
• other specific behaviors such as "avoidance"
• innate

12. Major population relations are:

• competition (negative symbiosis)
• predation
• territoriality (area defense)

14. Yield is a mortality-factor topic. Faunal resource management should be directed at a success measure, a score,(at least) at the product of the number of animals (the size of the population), its quality, and the net benefits from the population.

15. The following is one outline of the major population ecology topics:

1. Definitions
   1. Analysis
   2. Design
2. Fundamentals
   1. Definitions of populations, structure, dynamics, relations
   2. Relationship of analysis and design
   3. Designing populations to achieve objectives
3. Analysis
   1. Structure
      1. Sex ratios
      2. Age ratios
      3. Weight relations
      4. Density estimation
         1. Home range and space relations
         2. Major estimation methods
         3. Conspicuousness
      5. Health: structure or function?
      6. Behavioral groups (family, pack, herd)
      7. Genetic structure (demes, etc.)
      8. Metapopulations
   2. Dynamics
      1. Rate phenomena and life tables
      2. Intrinsic increase
      3. Natality
      4. Survival
      5. Mortality
      6. Migration and dispersal
      7. Selection theory (r vs k)
      8. Cycles
      9. Stability
      10. Theories of regulation
      11. Minimum viable populations
      12. Limiting factors
      13. Life equations
      14. Genetic drift
   3. Inter- and Intra-population relations
      1. Richness
      2. Diversity
      3. Species-area relations
      4. Genetics
      5. Competition
      6. Disturbance
      7. Predation
      8. Stress-disturbances, trauma, and crowding
      9. Predation
      10. Disease and parasites
      11. Pest-damage relations
      12. Occupancy of space (refuging, leks, territory, home range)
      13. Ecosystems, communities, societies, and families
      14. Behavioral knowledge for management
      15. Animal-habitat relations
      16. Energy balancing
4. Design
   1. Objectives-examples
      1. Sightings
      2. Meat
      3. Trophy
      4. Stability
      5. Negentrophy
      6. Damage reduction
   2. The theory of an optimum population
   3. Carrying capacity: a habitat characteristic measured in animal units
   4. Present-discounting
   5. Manipulation practices
   6. Season setting
   7. Predictions and recursive methods
   8. Hunting systems
   9. Furbearer systems
   10. Research systems
   11. Information systems
   12. Competing managerial approaches and concepts
       1. Key, featured, keystone, and indicator species
       2. Guild management
       3. Guild enterprise
       4. Habitat and faunal space mangement
       5. Threatened and endangered species
       6. Game and non-game
       7. Life group management
       8. Limiting factor
       9. Wilderness
       10. Constrained: non-damage
       11. Sustained yield
   13. Needs for the future and horizons
5. Summary

This Web site is maintained by R. H. Giles, Jr.
Last revision January 17, 2000.