ABSTRACT
Removal sampling data are the primary source of monitoring information for many populations (e.g., invasive species, fisheries). Population dynamics, temporary emigration, and imperfect detection are common sources of variation in monitoring data and are key parameters for informing management. We developed two open robust-design removal models for simultaneously modeling population dynamics, temporary emigration, and imperfect detection: a random walk linear trend model (estimable without ancillary information), and a 2-age class informed population model (InfoPM, closely related to integrated population models) that incorporated prior information for age-structured vital rates and relative juvenile availability. We applied both models to multiyear, removal trapping time-series of a large invasive lizard (Argentine black and white tegu, Salvator merianae) in three management areas of South Florida to evaluate the effectiveness of management programs. Although estimates of the two models were similar, the InfoPMs generally returned more precise estimates, partitioned dynamics into births, deaths, net migration, and provided a decision support tool to predict population dynamics under different effort scenarios while accounting for uncertainty. Trends in tegu superpopulation abundance estimates were increasing in two management areas despite generally high removal rates. However, tegu abundance appeared to decline in the Core management area, where trapping density was the highest and immigration the lowest. Finally, comparing abundance predictions of no-removal scenarios to those estimated in each management area suggested significant population reductions due to management. These results suggest that local tegu population control via systematic trapping may be feasible with high enough trap density and limited immigration; and highlights the value of these trapping programs. We provided the first estimates of tegu abundance, capture probabilities, and population dynamics, which is critical for effective management. Furthermore, our models are applicable to a wide range of monitoring programs (e.g., carcass recovery or removal point-counts).
ABSTRACT
Non-genetic maternal effects, operating through a female's physiology or behavior, can influence offspring traits and performance. Here we examined potential maternal influences on metabolic rates (MR) of offspring in an estuarine turtle, the diamondback terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin). Females and their eggs were collected from the field and the eggs incubated in the laboratory for subsequent measurement of MR of females, late-stage embryos, newly-hatched individuals that were nutritionally dependent on yolk, and older hatchlings that had depleted their yolk reserves and thus were independent of energetic contributions from the female. Female identity significantly affected MR of yolk-dependent hatchlings but, after yolk was depleted, MR of offspring converged and no longer reflected the maternal influence. Offspring from different females also differed in size, which influenced offspring MR and growth, but there was no correlation between female MR or size and offspring traits. MR of the older, yolk-independent hatchlings was lower overall than yolk-dependent hatchlings but correlated positively with growth rates and prior developmental rate (e.g. negatively correlated with time to hatching). Unlike another turtle species (snapping turtles), in which maternally-related differences in offspring MR were retained after yolk depletion, the maternal influence on offspring MR in diamondback terrapins is limited to early hatchling development and growth. The transient nature of the maternal effect, which was present only during the period that hatchlings were metabolizing yolk, suggests that variation among females in the composition of yolk deposited in eggs could be responsible for the differences observed in this study.
