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Metapopulation Dynamics Of Mid-Continent Lesser Snow Geese: Implications For Management, Lise M. Aubry, Robert F. Rockwell, David N. Koons

Human–Wildlife Interactions

The rapid increase in abundance of lesser snow goose (LSG; Chen caerulescens caerulescens) numbers and their devastating effects on arctic and subarctic habitats has inspired much research on the use of population models for defining appropriate management policies. We use the not yet considered metapopulation approach to examine the elasticity of mid-continent LSG population dynamics to changes in underlying vital rates to determine whether management efforts aimed at decreasing burgeoning numbers should be reevaluated. After considering a variety of geographic scenarios in the metapopulation model, we found that changes in survival would still have a larger impact on population …