Recent developments in statistical modeling have provided a framework to integrate multiple data sources to provide more robust estimates of abundance, demographic rates, as well as identify important ecological relationships. Integrated population models (IPMs) are useful for obtaining crucial demographic information from limited data, estimation of population size and trend, and explicitly linking changes in abundance to underlying demographic and ecological processes in addition to conservation and management actions. As our understanding of a system increases through data collection and modeling efforts, it logically follows that uncertainty would decrease, providing stronger ecological and predictive inference. However, inference gained from IPM’s have not been explicitly to their non-integrated sub-models in a decision context. Here, we discuss the opportunities to reduce uncertainty in species current abundance, trend, and threats using integrated population models and how this translates to making more informed management and conservation decisions. We focus on two Arctic endemic species of conservation concern and the applications and opportunities of IPM’s to relevant management and conservation decisions.
Results/Conclusions
We will present results from an integrated population model and compare against results from analyses on subsets of data and examine the effects that the differences in inferential power has on a decision analysis regarding spectacled eider listing status. In addition to the spectacled eider example, we will review a less traditional IPM that integrates intermittent capture-recapture data with harvest monitoring data collected from a subpopulation of polar bears. We will discuss the application of this integrated population model and information gleaned within towards a formal evaluation of subpopulation status, harvest risk assessment, and optimal survey design for collecting the data necessary to aid in future decision making.