On adaptive management
A management policy for sika deer based on sex-specific hunting
Published in Researches on Population Ecology (in Press)
Hiroyuki MATSUDA1), Koichi KAJI2), Hiroyuki UNO3), Hirofumi HIRAKAWA4) and Takashi SAITOH5)
Abstract: We consider a management policy for a sika deer (Cervus nippon) population in the eastern part of Hokkaido. Deer populations are characterized by a large intrinsic rate of population increase, no significant density effects on population growth before population crash, and relatively simple life history. Our goals of management for the deer population are (1) to avoid irruption with a severe damage on agriculture and forestry, (2) to avoid risk of the extinction of the deer population, and (3) to keep a sustainable yield of the deer. To make a robust program based on uncertain information about the deer population, we consider 3 levels of relative population size and 4 levels of hunting pressures. We consider a critical level for the extinction, an optimal level and an irruption level. The hunting pressure for females is set to increase with the population size. We also recommend to catch males if the population size is between the critical and optimal levels and to catch females and males if the population size is larger than the optimal level. We have to avoid cases of irruption or being threatened under various sets of uncertain parameter values. The simulation results suggest that management based on sex-specific hunting is effective to diminish annual variation in hunting yield.
Comments welcome!!! matsuda2
ynu.ac.jp