Abstract
Overall impacts of targeted conservation interventions on population growth rate (λ) will depend on within-year and among-year variation in exposure of target individuals
to interventions, and in intervention efficacy in increasing vital rates of exposed individuals. Juvenile survival is one key vital rate that commonly varies substantially within and among years, and consequently drives variation in λ. However, within year, among-year and overall impacts of targeted interventions on population-wide survival probabilities of potentially mobile juveniles are rarely quantified, precluding full evaluation and evidence-based refinement of interventions.
2. We applied multi-state mark-recapture models to eight years of ring-resighting data from a threatened red-billed chough (Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax) population to quantify within-year and among-year variation in juvenile exposure to a targeted intervention of supplementary feeding and parasite treatment, and to estimate efficacy in increasing juvenile survival probability. We then combined and up-scaled these estimated effects to evaluate the impact of the eight-year intervention on overall population-wide survival probability and resulting population size.
3. High proportions of surviving juveniles (>70%) were exposed to the intervention across the annual biological cycle in all years. Exposure was associated with higher
short-term survival probabilities through the full annual cycle. Consequently, management increased estimated population-wide annual juvenile survival by approximately 0.14. However, such effects were only evident in cohorts with low overall annual survival.
4. Population models projected that these impacts on annual juvenile survival substantially reduced population decline, such that population size at the end of the
eight-year intervention was approximately double that without management.
5. Synthesis and applications. Our results show how complex patterns of within-year and among-year variation in exposure and efficacy of targeted conservation interventions can arise and scale up to affect population-level outcomes. We demonstrate overall positive effects of a joint supplementary feeding and parasite treatment intervention on the focal chough population, but also highlight potential routes to improve efficacy, for example through more precise targeting of interventions and agricultural management actions in the context of among-year variation in environmental conditions.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 2722-2733 |
Number of pages | 12 |
Journal | Journal of Applied Ecology |
Volume | 58 |
Issue number | 12 |
Early online date | 30 Aug 2021 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1 Dec 2021 |
Bibliographical note
AcknowledgementsWe thank all Islay landowners and farmers who allowed access to nest sites and supported supplementary feeding, especially Donald Jones and Robert and Tom Epps, and everyone who contributed to fieldwork and data collection. We thank NatureScot for funding supplementary feeding, led by Rae McKenzie, Jess Shaw and Des Thompson, and Royal Society for the Protection of Birds for logistic support. This work was supported by a Natural Environment Research Council iCASE studentship (NE/P009719/1) with NatureScot, and the Scottish Government’s 2011-2016 and 2016-2021 Strategic Research Programmes.
Open access via Wiley agreement.
Data Availability Statement
Data available via the Dryad Digital Repository https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.g1jwstqrh (Fenn et al., 2021).Keywords
- Annual juvenile survival probability
- evidence-based conservation
- multi-state mark recapture
- population growth rate
- red-billed chough
- seasonal demographic variation
- supplementary feeding