Defining biologically relevant and hierarchically nested population units to inform wildlife management.

ABSTRACT: Wildlife populations are increasingly affected by natural and anthropogenic changes that negatively alter biotic and abiotic processes at multiple spatiotemporal scales and therefore require increased wildlife management and conservation efforts. However, wildlife management boundaries frequently lack biological context and mechanisms to assess demographic data across the multiple spatiotemporal scales influencing populations. To address these limitations, we developed a novel approach to define biologically relevant subpopulations of hierarchically nested population levels that could facilitate managing and conserving wildlife populations and habitats. Our approach relied on the Spatial "K"luster Analysis by Tree Edge Removal clustering algorithm, which we applied in an agglomerative mann

SUBMITTER: O'Donnell MS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9712811 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature