A general target for MVPs: Unsupported and unnecessary

Curtis H. Flather; Gregory D. Hayward; Steven R. Beissinger; Philip A. Stephens

Treesearch

A general target for MVPs: Unsupported and unnecessary

Formally Refereed

Authors:

Curtis H. Flather, Gregory D. Hayward, Steven R. Beissinger, Philip A. Stephens

Year:

2011

Type:

Scientific Journal

Station:

Rocky Mountain Research Station

Source:

Trends in Ecology and Evolution. 26(12): 620-622.

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Abstract

In a recent article in TREE [1], we reviewed evidence for a consistent standardised estimate of minimum viable populations (MVPs) across taxa [2-4] and found that the universal MVP of 5000 adults advocated by Traill et al. [5] was unsupported by reanalyses of their data. We identified shortcomings in the original analyses, and found substantial uncertainty in standardised MVP estimates, both within populations of the same species and among species. We concluded that neither data nor theory supported a generally applicable MVP.

Keywords

minimum viable populations (MVPs)

Citation

Flather, Curtis H.; Hayward, Gregory D.; Beissinger, Steven R.; Stephens, Philip A. 2011. A general target for MVPs: Unsupported and unnecessary. Trends in Ecology and Evolution. 26(12): 620-622.