The case of the missing marmots: are metapopulation dynamics or range-wide declines responsible?
Griffin SC, Taper ML, Hoffman R, Mills LS. 2008. The case of the missing marmots: are metapopulation dynamics or range-wide declines responsible?. Biological Conservation. 141(2008):1293-1309
From the Abstract: "In the mid-1980s, anecdotal reports of Olympic marmot (Marmota olympus) disappearces from historically occupied locations suggested that the species might be declining. Concern was heightened by the precipitous decline of the Vancouver Island marmot (Marmota vancouverensis), coupled with reports that climate change was affecting other high-elevation species. However, it was unclear whether the Olympic marmot was declining or undergoing natural extinctions and recolonizations; distinguishing between normal metapopulations proceses and population declines in naturally fragmented species can be difficult. From 2002-2005, we used multiple approaches to evaluate the population status of the Olympic marmot. ... The spatial pattern of the extinctions is inconsistent with observed metapopulation dynamics in other marmot species, and together with very low observed dispersal rates, indicates that population is not at equilibrium."
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Griffin, Suzanne; Taper, Mark; Hoffman, Roger; Mills, L.
- Units
- OLYM
- Keywords
- Endemic, Metapopulation Dynamics, Olympic marmot (Marmota olympus), Population Declines