2.5 Conclusions
We illustrated a pragmatic approach to modeling that involved working with expert biologists and managers to construct a simple population model that addressed specific management-oriented questions. The model included the basic processes of wolf demography and social structures necessary to make accurate predictions. Simple simulation experiments were used to determine the population impacts of changes in demographic parameters, and the results of the experiments were used to infer how changes in management activities and environmental processes might affect wolf populations. This approach to modeling will help address new questions about how wolves are managed in the western Great Lakes region as the population continues to recover and is removed from the Federal Endangered Species List. This modeling approach should also contribute to the recovery and management of other endangered species.
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Cochrane, J.F., Haight, R.G., Starfield, A.M. (2003). Modeling for Endangered-Species Recovery: Gray Wolves in the Western Great Lakes Region. In: Dale, V.H. (eds) Ecological Modeling for Resource Management. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-21563-8_2
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