| Statistical Programs |
| College of Agricultural and Life Sciences |
University of Idaho |
| Seminar Announcement |
| "Applied Statistics in Agriculture" |
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Should we harvest Idaho populations of endangered Greater Sage-grouse now that they've been designated as "warranted but precluded"?
Presented By |
| Dr. Edward O. Garton |
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Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources University of Idaho |
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Tuesday, November 9 3:30 P. M. Ag. Science 62 |
| Populations of greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) have declined more than 50% in western North America during the past 50 years. Petitions to list the species under the Endangered Species Act led US Fish and Wildlife Service to conclude they were "warranted but precluded" from listing. Groups might question continued harvest of this species throughout most of its range including a core population in Idaho. We analyzed results of a harvest management experiment from 1995-1999 using an approach that simultaneously evaluates density-dependence in population growth rates while assessing the effects of harvest. Applying this approach to 19 populations of greater sage-grouse subjected to various rates of harvest provides highly significant evidence for inverse density-dependence in growth rates and insightful conclusions concerning the sustainability of harvest. Applying the information theoretic best models of inverse density-dependence and harvest effects allows us to evaluate the probability of various levels of harvest reducing populations below minimum effective population sizes and to assess harvest's potential impact on long-term viability of these populations in North America. We'll use these results to frame a discussion of whether the potential positive impacts of sport-hunting outweigh any negative impacts on persistence. |
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