1 research outputs found
Survival and recruitment in the population ecology of the endangered Bombina pachypus (Amphibia: Anura): Supplementary Material
<p>Global amphibian decline is a subject of great
conservation concern, yet often basic demographic information is absent, which
prevents the understanding of population trends and the planning of effective
conservation management. We analysed capture-mark-recapture data from six
populations of the endangered<i> Bombina pachypus</i> in order to understand
the relative contribution of survival and recruitment to population growth, and
to assess if any differences exist among populations in terms of their
population dynamics. We found that survival was rather high and generally constant
among sites, and recruitment was low, with the exception of two single years at
one site. Population growth depended on survival on all sites, except the years
following high recruitment at one site. Annual population size was generally
lower than 30 individuals, but in one site it was estimated to be larger than
50. Our findings suggest that juvenile survival is more important for
population dynamics than recruitment from the larval to the juvenile stage. We
also suggest that the low recruitment rates we recorded was a result of
juvenile dispersal, and that when populations exhibited high recruitment it was
due to occasional successful migration or local recruitment. This pattern could
represent a way to counterbalance the risk of inbreeding in populations
composed of few individuals, a common characteristic of populations of <i>B.
pachypus</i>. Finally, we suggest that conservation measures for <i>B. pachypus</i>
should be planned at the landscape scale, and should not be limited solely to
the breeding site and its close surroundings.</p