KUKU

KU ScholarWorks

  • myKU
  • Email
  • Enroll & Pay
  • KU Directory
    • Login
    View Item 
    •   KU ScholarWorks
    • Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
    • Ecology & Evolutionary Biology Scholarly Works
    • View Item
    •   KU ScholarWorks
    • Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
    • Ecology & Evolutionary Biology Scholarly Works
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    An Adaptive Decision Framework for the Conservation of a Threatened Plant

    Thumbnail
    View/Open
    Alexander_Helen_An_Adaptive_Decision.pdf (3.120Mb)
    Issue Date
    2011-12-01
    Author
    Moore, Clinton T.
    Fonnesbeck, Christopher J.
    Shea, Katriona
    Lah, Kristopher J.
    McKenzie, Paul M.
    Ball, Lianne C.
    Runge, Michael C.
    Alexander, Helen M.
    Publisher
    U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
    Type
    Article
    Article Version
    Scholarly/refereed, publisher version
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Abstract
    Mead's milkweed Asclepias meadii, a long-lived perennial herb of tallgrass prairie and glade communities of the central United States, is a species designated as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. Challenges to its successful management include the facts that much about its life history is unknown, its age at reproductive maturity is very advanced, certain life stages are practically unobservable, its productivity is responsive to unpredictable environmental events, and most of the known populations occur on private lands unprotected by any legal conservation instrument. One critical source of biological uncertainty is the degree to which fire promotes growth and reproductive response in the plant. To aid in its management, we developed a prototype population-level state-dependent decision-making framework that explicitly accounts for this uncertainty and for uncertainties related to stochastic environmental effects and vital rates. To parameterize the decision model, we used estimates found in the literature, and we analyzed data from a long-term monitoring program where fates of individual plants were observed through time. We demonstrate that different optimal courses of action are followed according to how one believes that fire influences reproductive response, and we show that the action taken for certain population states is informative for resolving uncertainty about competing beliefs regarding the effect of fire. We advocate the use of a model-predictive approach for the management of rare populations, particularly when management uncertainty is profound. Over time, an adaptive management approach should reduce uncertainty and improve management performance as predictions of management outcome generated under competing models are continually informed and updated by monitoring data.
    Description
    This is the publisher's version, also available electronically from http://www.fwspubs.org/.
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/1808/13193
    DOI
    https://doi.org/10.3996/012011-JFWM-007
    Collections
    • Ecology & Evolutionary Biology Scholarly Works [1516]
    Citation
    Clinton T. Moore, Christopher J. Fonnesbeck, Katriona Shea, Kristopher J. Lah, Paul M. McKenzie, Lianne C. Ball, Michael C. Runge, Helen M. Alexander (2011) An Adaptive Decision Framework for the Conservation of a Threatened Plant. Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management: December 2011, Vol. 2, No. 2, pp. 247-261. http://dx.doi.org/10.3996/012011-JFWM-007

    Items in KU ScholarWorks are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.


    We want to hear from you! Please share your stories about how Open Access to this item benefits YOU.


    Contact KU ScholarWorks
    785-864-8983
    KU Libraries
    1425 Jayhawk Blvd
    Lawrence, KS 66045
    785-864-8983

    KU Libraries
    1425 Jayhawk Blvd
    Lawrence, KS 66045
    Image Credits
     

     

    Browse

    All of KU ScholarWorksCommunities & CollectionsThis Collection

    My Account

    LoginRegister

    Statistics

    View Usage Statistics

    Contact KU ScholarWorks
    785-864-8983
    KU Libraries
    1425 Jayhawk Blvd
    Lawrence, KS 66045
    785-864-8983

    KU Libraries
    1425 Jayhawk Blvd
    Lawrence, KS 66045
    Image Credits
     

     

    The University of Kansas
      Contact KU ScholarWorks
    Lawrence, KS | Maps
     
    • Academics
    • Admission
    • Alumni
    • Athletics
    • Campuses
    • Giving
    • Jobs

    The University of Kansas prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, religion, sex, national origin, age, ancestry, disability, status as a veteran, sexual orientation, marital status, parental status, gender identity, gender expression and genetic information in the University’s programs and activities. The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding the non-discrimination policies: Director of the Office of Institutional Opportunity and Access, IOA@ku.edu, 1246 W. Campus Road, Room 153A, Lawrence, KS, 66045, (785)864-6414, 711 TTY.

     Contact KU
    Lawrence, KS | Maps