Does litter size variation affect models of terrestrial carnivore extinction risk and management?

ABSTRACT:

Background

Individual variation in both survival and reproduction has the potential to influence extinction risk. Especially for rare or threatened species, reliable population models should adequately incorporate demographic uncertainty. Here, we focus on an important form of demographic stochasticity: variation in litter sizes. We use terrestrial carnivores as an example taxon, as they are frequently threatened or of economic importance. Since data on intraspecific litter size variation are often sparse, it is unclear what probability distribution should be used to describe the pattern of litter size variation for multiparous carnivores.

Methodology/principal findings

We used litter size data on 32 terrestrial carnivore species to test the fit of 12 probability distributio

SUBMITTER: Devenish-Nelson ES 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3585178 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature