Rural System's

Modern Wild Faunal Resource System Management

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Outline of Major Population Ecology Topics

The following outline suggests a study that is more analytical and descriptive than managerial. It follows conventional misuse and redundancy of the "population ecology" phrase in universities throughout the world. Nevertheless, the topics are of critical importance to the rural wild faunal resource system manager.

Note the large number of omnivores (not shown in the diagram).

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 resource objectives (related 1-5 above)
3. Analysis
4. Structure
   1. Sex ratios
   2. Age ratios
   3. Weight relations
   4. Density estimation
      • Home range and space relations
      • Major estimation methods
      • Conspicuousness
   5. Health: structure or function?
   6. Behavioral groups (family, pack, herd)
   7. Genetic structure (demes, etc.)
   8. Metapopulations
5. 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
6. 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
7. 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 management
       5. Threatened and endangered species
       6. Game--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
8. Summary

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Last revision September 7, 2002.