Monday, February 18, 2013

Predicting The Spring Abundance Distribution Of Red-legged Partridge Populations In Agricultural Regions Using Environmental Models And An Application For Game Management


Rapid increases in human population coupled with steadily receding wildlife areas create a need for the application and implementation of game management in areas across the globe. A number of factors (i.e. land use, agriculture, land cover, climate, soil, etc.) are essential in formulating successful game management systems. Geographic Information Systems can prove to be incredibly useful and unique tools in this relatively delicate process. GIS plays an increasingly important role in regional wildlife biology and management, because it grants individuals the ability to store, display, and analyze complex data. Furthermore, it assists in the development of models designed to utilize data in efforts to predict factors such as population distribution among various species of wildlife.
This article describes the authors, Victoriano Peiro and Charles Blanc's, attempt to develop a tool to assist the management of the red-legged partridge in France.  If it is utilized properly, this tool could assist game administrators to predict the abundance of partridges in specific hunting areas, ultimately allowing them set harvest quotas months prior to the opening of hunting season. The red-legged partridge is one of the most popular game birds in France, thus population management is quite important.
The authors indicate that the main goal of their study was not to offer definitive statements pertaining to habitat-abundance relationship. Instead, they attempt to highlight the possibility of pairing various approaches for modeling (with respects to wildlife management) with GIS in order to assist wildlife ecologists and administrators analyze and display data associated with the distribution of the red-legged partridge. It should be noted that this process could be applied to hundreds of different game animals around the globe.

References:
PEIRO, V., & BLANC, C. P. (2011). Predicting the spring abundance distribution of red-legged partridge populations in agricultural regions using environmental models and an application for game management. Folia Zoologica, 60(3), 203-213.

3 comments:

  1. It's great GIS is being used to reduce numbers in game animals. I've learned that if these numbers go unchecked, environmental devastation, species extinction, and other such tragic events can occur. Birds are the worst, especially in urban areas--just think of those pesky grackles that are so common around here!

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  2. The potential use of such applications for monitoring and predicting not only game birds, but also such species as endangered water fowl along the coasts could be instrumental in developing recovery plans for such species.

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  3. GIS being used to help control partridge populations is interesting. Similarly to the deer in Texas, these birds can cause damage to wildlife when left free to roam and over hunting can also cause major environmental damage as well.

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