Restoring Wildlife Populations RENR 8107

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Interpret underlying principles of ‘populations’, including:
• Time frames and historic condition,
• Natural versus desired condition,
• Population concepts,
• Distribution patterns of populations,
• Metapopulation structure,
• Exotic species,
• Linking populations and restoration ecology,
• Restoring a population.
• Interpret underlying principles of ‘habitat’, including:
• What and when to monitor,
• Spatial scale,
• Measurements of the animal and of the habitat,
• ‘Focal animal’ approach,
• How to measure habitat.
• Design ‘desired condition’, including:
• Conducting historic assessment using existing data sets, museum records, literature, etc.,
• Developing desired condition for sample restoration site:
• Step 1: Planning area
• Step 2: Project area
• Step 3: Adaptive management implementation.
• Interpret basic design concepts for wildlife restoration, including:
• Habitat heterogeneity, fragmentation, disturbance ecology,
• Landscape matrix as a planning area,
• Population and restoration management implications:
• Guidelines for species richness and diversity,
• Guidelines to maintain within-patch condition,
• Guidelines to maintain a desired occupancy rate of habitat patches,
• Guidelines for habitat configuration.
• Design and initiate monitoring field methods and applications, including:
• Implementation monitoring, effectiveness monitoring, validation monitoring, compliance monitoring,
• Adaptive management and monitoring,
• Conducting wildlife sampling for:
• Amphibians and reptiles,
• Birds,
• Mammals.

Effective as of Winter 2014