popharvest: An <i>R</i> package to assess the sustainability of harvesting regimes of bird populations

Éraud, Cyril; Devaux, Tiphaine; Villers, Alexandre; Johnson, Fred A.; Francesiaz, Charlotte

doi:10.1002/ece3.8212

Cited by 4 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…Waterbird survival estimates are reported variously from the UK, or across Europe, but generally from ringing recaptures. The DIM approach is sensitive to adult survival and requires good estimates of maximal survival under optimal conditions (Eraud et al, 2021). Our survival estimates are known underestimates as they are invariably measured in the presence of hunting mortality.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A Sustainable Hunting Index (SHI + 95% confidence interval (CI)) was calculated for each species using the potential excess growth (PEG) function in the popharvest R package (Eraud et al, 2021). This index is calculated as the ratio of harvest to PEG such that any value in excess of 1 indicates overharvest and values under 1 are increasingly less likely to be unsustainable as they approach zero (Niel and Lebreton 2005).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Harvest was drawn from a uniform range equal to the 95% confidence intervals of published estimates (Aebischer, 2019). Distributions for drawing simulation parameters from were guided by those recommended by the package authors (Eraud et al, 2021) and references therein. Age at first reproduction was taken to be fixed at 1 for all duck species, 2 for all waders and 3 for all geese (Robinson, 2005).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This included nine species of ducks (mallard Anas platyrhynchos ; Eurasian teal Anas crecca ; Eurasian wigeon Mareca penelope ; gadwall Mareca strepera ; northern pintail Anas acuta ; northern shoveler Spatula clyptea ; tufted duck Aythya fuligula ; common pochard Aythya ferina ; and common goldeneye Bucephala clangula ), three waders (Eurasian woodcock Scolopax rusticola ; common snipe Gallinago gallinago ; and golden plover Pluvialis apricaria ) and three goose species comprising a total of four goose populations (British (resident) and Icelandic (migratory) greylag goose A nser anser ; Greenland/Icelandic pink-footed goose Anser brachyrhynchus ; and, resident Canada goose Branta canadensis ). These data were used to estimate a Sustainable Hunting Index using a stochastic simulation approach using the “popharvest” R package (Eraud et al 2021).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These data were used to estimate a Sustainable Hunting Index using a stochastic simulation approach using the "popharvest" R package (Eraud et al 2021).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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An initial assessment of the sustainability of waterbird harvest in the United Kingdom

Ellis¹,

Cameron

2022

Preprint

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There is a need to assess the sustainability of current harvest levels of wild birds in the United Kingdom (UK), and more widely, across Europe. Yet data on population and harvest size, as well as population demographics of many species are limited.We used a Demographic Invariant Method (DIM) to estimate Potential Excess Growth (PEG) for populations of waterbirds wintering in the UK and calculated a Sustainable Harvest Index (SHI) for each species or population. We compared this with population trends and conservation classifications (e.g. Birds of Conservation Concern) to assess the sustainability of harvests and the utility of these classifications.Our approach found no evidence for overharvest of any duck or wader species, except potentially for gadwall Mareca strepera. We estimated that Canada geese Branta canadensis and both British and Icelandic greylag geese Anser anser are potentially overharvested in the UK. With the exception of Icelandic greylag geese, all of the goose populations predicted to be experiencing overharvest show strong population growth. This conflicting result raises concern about current population size estimates, harvest estimates or both.We found no relationship between sustainable harvest indices and short-term or long-term wintering trends in harvested species, or conservation classification under the UK’s Birds of Conservation Concern framework.Policy Implications: Our results suggest that UK based harvest is unlikely to be a major determinant of population trends for overwintering waterbirds in the UK. Additionally, the lack of a relationship between conservation classifications and SHI strongly suggests that these are not an appropriate tool for making decisions about harvest management. Our assessment provides the basis for a framework to make evidence-based decisions on sustainable harvest levels in the UK in the face of incomplete data. Investment in data collection for European waterbird population size and harvest is long overdue.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These data were used to estimate a Sustainable Hunting Index using a stochastic simulation approach using the "popharvest" R package (Eraud et al 2021).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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An initial assessment of the sustainability of waterbird harvest in the United Kingdom

Ellis¹,

Cameron

2022

Preprint

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Using the R package popharvest to assess the sustainability of offtake in birds

Johnson,

Eraud,

Francesiaz

et al. 2024

Ecology and Evolution

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The R package popharvest was designed to help assess the sustainability of offtake in birds when only limited demographic information is available. In this article, we describe some basics of harvest theory and then discuss several considerations when using the different approaches in popharvest to assess whether observed harvests are unsustainable. Throughout, we emphasize the importance of distinguishing between the scientific and policy aspects of managing offtake. The principal product of popharvest is a sustainable harvest index (SHI), which can indicate whether the harvest is unsustainable but not the converse. SHI is estimated based on a simple, scalar model of logistic population growth, whose parameters may be estimated using limited knowledge of demography. Uncertainty in demography leads to a distribution of SHI values and it is the purview of the decision‐maker to determine what amounts to an acceptable risk when failing to reject the null hypothesis of sustainability. The attitude toward risk, in turn, will likely depend on the decision‐maker's objective(s) in managing offtake. The management objective as specified in popharvest is a social construct, informed by biology, but ultimately it is an expression of social values that usually vary among stakeholders. We therefore suggest that any standardization of criteria for management objectives in popharvest will necessarily be subjective and, thus, hard to defend in diverse decision‐making situations. Because of its ease of use, diverse functionalities, and a minimal requirement of demographic information, we expect the use of popharvest to become widespread. Nonetheless, we suggest that while popharvest provides a useful platform for rapid assessments of sustainability, it cannot substitute for sufficient expertise and experience in harvest theory and management.

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An initial assessment of the sustainability of waterbird harvest in the United Kingdom

Ellis¹,

Cameron

2022

Journal of Applied Ecology

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1. There is a need to assess the sustainability of wild bird harvest in the United Kingdom (UK), and more widely, across Europe. Yet, data on populations and harvest sizes are limited.2. We used a demographic invariant method (DIM) to estimate potential excess growth (PEG) for populations of UK wintering waterbirds and calculated a sustainable harvest index (SHI) for each. We compared this with population trends and conservation classifications (e.g. Birds of Conservation Concern [BoCC]) to assess the sustainability of harvests and the utility of these classifications.3. Our approach found evidence for potential overharvest of mallard Anas platyrhynchos, Eurasian teal Anas crecca, gadwall Mareca strepera, Canada geese Branta canadensis, greylag geese Anser anser and woodcock Scolopax rusticola.Whether DIM methods predict overharvest is highly dependent on estimates of maximum population growth rates inferring PEG. We found estimates of maximum population growth to be variable across a range of different methods.4. We found no relationship between SHI and short-term wintering trends or conservation classification under the UK's BoCC framework. There was however a positive relationship between SHI and long-term wintering trends. 5. Policy implications. Our results suggest that UK-based harvest is unlikely to be a major determinant of population trends for the majority of UK overwintering waterbirds, but harvest rates for some species may exceed that required to maintain stationary population growth. The lack of a relationship between conservation classifications and SHI strongly suggests that such conservation classifications are not an appropriate tool for making decisions about harvest management. Instead, our assessment provides the basis for a framework to make evidence-based decisions on sustainable harvest levels in the face of incomplete data. There is currently no clear policy instrument in the UK to support such a framework via controls on either harvest effort or mortality of waterfowl.We believe such an instrument is urgently needed to ensure the UK can adapt to changing pressures and ensure the sustainable use of our wildlife populations.

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popharvest: An R package to assess the sustainability of harvesting regimes of bird populations

Cited by 4 publications

References 31 publications

An initial assessment of the sustainability of waterbird harvest in the United Kingdom

An initial assessment of the sustainability of waterbird harvest in the United Kingdom

Using the R package popharvest to assess the sustainability of offtake in birds

An initial assessment of the sustainability of waterbird harvest in the United Kingdom

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