Assessing red deer hunting management in the Iberian Peninsula: the importance of longitudinal studies
Understanding the dynamics of a wildlife population in relation to hunting strategies is essential to achieve sustainable management. We used monitoring data over 25 years from two red deer (Cervus elaphus) populations with different management (with and without supplemental feeding) in South Centra...
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PeerJ Inc.
2021-02-01
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| Online Access: | https://peerj.com/articles/10872.pdf |
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| author | Antonio José Carpio Camargo Jose Barasona Pelayo Acevedo Yolanda Fierro Christian Gortazar Carlos Vigal Ángel Moreno Joaquin Vicente |
| author_facet | Antonio José Carpio Camargo Jose Barasona Pelayo Acevedo Yolanda Fierro Christian Gortazar Carlos Vigal Ángel Moreno Joaquin Vicente |
| author_sort | Antonio José Carpio Camargo |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Understanding the dynamics of a wildlife population in relation to hunting strategies is essential to achieve sustainable management. We used monitoring data over 25 years from two red deer (Cervus elaphus) populations with different management (with and without supplemental feeding) in South Central Spain to: (i) characterise the density dependence of population dynamics under contrasted management, and (ii) provide the basis for sustainable extraction by considering the theoretical maximum sustainable yield (MSYt) as the reference. The red deer population displayed a typical management reactive culling approach (‘saw-tooth-like’ curves), with occasional strong annual harvests but not occurring on a regular basis. Interestingly, we found reduced population growth at high densities in both populations, indicating that density-mediated factors determined population growth even when artificial feeding was provided. However, no effects of sex not age class of the extracted population on the population growth rate were determined. The total number of animals hunted was only slightly above those predicted by MSYt (i.e. K50%) in both populations, despite high densities close to theoretical K, being consistent throughout the study period. The extraction rates (30.3 and 34.0%, for supplemented and unsupplemented populations, respectively) were 13.3% and 10.2% lower compared to the MSYt situation in the unsupplemented and supplemented populations, respectively. Long term population monitoring data provided feasible and suitable baseline values to optimise the sustainable exploitation of red deer populations in the Mediterranean ecosystem under these contrasting management scenarios. Adaptive management, involving objective-driven decision making informed by data on red deer population dynamic, can contribute (i) to maximising the total extraction over the long term while (ii) reducing the ecological impact of high population densities. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T07:07:13Z |
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| issn | 2167-8359 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T07:07:13Z |
| publishDate | 2021-02-01 |
| publisher | PeerJ Inc. |
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| series | PeerJ |
| spelling | doaj.art-53f0e288e7ab4aaaa050ffb52c28ad222023-12-03T09:27:54ZengPeerJ Inc.PeerJ2167-83592021-02-019e1087210.7717/peerj.10872Assessing red deer hunting management in the Iberian Peninsula: the importance of longitudinal studiesAntonio José Carpio Camargo0Jose Barasona1Pelayo Acevedo2Yolanda Fierro3Christian Gortazar4Carlos Vigal5Ángel Moreno6Joaquin Vicente7Department of Zoology, University of Córdoba, Córdoba, SpainVISAVET Health Surveillance Centre, Department of Animal Health, Veterinary School, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, SpainSaBio, Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos, IREC (CSIC-UCLM-JCCM), Ciudad Real, SpainYolfi Properties, Ciudad Real, EspañaSaBio, Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos, IREC (CSIC-UCLM-JCCM), Ciudad Real, SpainLos Quintos de Mora, Organismo Autónomo de Parques Nacionales, Toledo, SpainLos Quintos de Mora, Organismo Autónomo de Parques Nacionales, Toledo, SpainSaBio, Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos, IREC (CSIC-UCLM-JCCM), Ciudad Real, SpainUnderstanding the dynamics of a wildlife population in relation to hunting strategies is essential to achieve sustainable management. We used monitoring data over 25 years from two red deer (Cervus elaphus) populations with different management (with and without supplemental feeding) in South Central Spain to: (i) characterise the density dependence of population dynamics under contrasted management, and (ii) provide the basis for sustainable extraction by considering the theoretical maximum sustainable yield (MSYt) as the reference. The red deer population displayed a typical management reactive culling approach (‘saw-tooth-like’ curves), with occasional strong annual harvests but not occurring on a regular basis. Interestingly, we found reduced population growth at high densities in both populations, indicating that density-mediated factors determined population growth even when artificial feeding was provided. However, no effects of sex not age class of the extracted population on the population growth rate were determined. The total number of animals hunted was only slightly above those predicted by MSYt (i.e. K50%) in both populations, despite high densities close to theoretical K, being consistent throughout the study period. The extraction rates (30.3 and 34.0%, for supplemented and unsupplemented populations, respectively) were 13.3% and 10.2% lower compared to the MSYt situation in the unsupplemented and supplemented populations, respectively. Long term population monitoring data provided feasible and suitable baseline values to optimise the sustainable exploitation of red deer populations in the Mediterranean ecosystem under these contrasting management scenarios. Adaptive management, involving objective-driven decision making informed by data on red deer population dynamic, can contribute (i) to maximising the total extraction over the long term while (ii) reducing the ecological impact of high population densities.https://peerj.com/articles/10872.pdfArtificial feedingCervus elaphusManagementPopulation dynamicsPopulation growthRecruitment rate |
| spellingShingle | Antonio José Carpio Camargo Jose Barasona Pelayo Acevedo Yolanda Fierro Christian Gortazar Carlos Vigal Ángel Moreno Joaquin Vicente Assessing red deer hunting management in the Iberian Peninsula: the importance of longitudinal studies PeerJ Artificial feeding Cervus elaphus Management Population dynamics Population growth Recruitment rate |
| title | Assessing red deer hunting management in the Iberian Peninsula: the importance of longitudinal studies |
| title_full | Assessing red deer hunting management in the Iberian Peninsula: the importance of longitudinal studies |
| title_fullStr | Assessing red deer hunting management in the Iberian Peninsula: the importance of longitudinal studies |
| title_full_unstemmed | Assessing red deer hunting management in the Iberian Peninsula: the importance of longitudinal studies |
| title_short | Assessing red deer hunting management in the Iberian Peninsula: the importance of longitudinal studies |
| title_sort | assessing red deer hunting management in the iberian peninsula the importance of longitudinal studies |
| topic | Artificial feeding Cervus elaphus Management Population dynamics Population growth Recruitment rate |
| url | https://peerj.com/articles/10872.pdf |
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