Spatial familial networks to infer demographic structure of wild populations

McFarlane, Samantha; Manseau, Micheline; Wilson, Paul J.

doi:10.1002/ece3.7345

Cited by 6 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 66 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…We followed the DNA extraction protocol outlined by Ball et al (2007) to generate individualspecific genetic profiles. To generate familial pedigree networks, we amplified samples from unique genotypes at 15 variable microsatellite loci (McFarlane et al, 2021).…”

Section: Data Collection and Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We used the protocol outlined by McFarlane et al (2021) to identify individuals that are central to the network and used the R package CINNA (Ashtiani et al, 2018) to estimate individual node-based network centrality measures. Nodes represent individuals, while edges represent parent-to-offspring relationships.…”

Section: Network Centralitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Boreal woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou, hereafter referred to as boreal caribou) in Saskatchewan, Canada provides an ideal system for testing demographic density responses hypotheses as this population is sedentary, exhibiting relatively small-scale movements, and occur over large areas with no discrete populations (Ball et al, 2010;Priadka et al, 2019;McFarlane et al, 2021). They select large tracks of mature to old-growth coniferous forests that provide abundant lichens, or wetlands mixed with upland areas, and avoid early-stage, successional deciduous forests (Stuart-Smith et al, 1997;Environment Canada, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To investigate these factors on density and density response, we first used 10.3389/fevo.2022.956834 noninvasive genetic sampling and spatial capture-recapture (SCR) modeling to generate a spatially explicit caribou density raster layer using landscape covariates to create a heterogeneous density surface. Using the same genetic data, we constructed familial networks and calculated individual recruitment and dispersal rates along with a range of networks metrics to assess the contribution of individual boreal caribou to the population (McFarlane et al, 2021;Jones and Manseau, 2022). We have previously shown spatial variation in individual measures of network centrality (a node's position within a network; Jones and Manseau, 2022) across Saskatchewan, with animals in the southern part of their range presenting higher numbers of parent-offspring relationships, along with connections to other highly connected individuals (McFarlane et al, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Using the same genetic data, we constructed familial networks and calculated individual recruitment and dispersal rates along with a range of networks metrics to assess the contribution of individual boreal caribou to the population (McFarlane et al, 2021;Jones and Manseau, 2022). We have previously shown spatial variation in individual measures of network centrality (a node's position within a network; Jones and Manseau, 2022) across Saskatchewan, with animals in the southern part of their range presenting higher numbers of parent-offspring relationships, along with connections to other highly connected individuals (McFarlane et al, 2021). In this study, we extend these analyses to examine the relationship between familial network metrics and density, a novel approach of testing the effects of density variation on population demographics.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Identification of familial networks reveals sex-specific density dependence in the dispersal and reproductive success of an endangered ungulate

et al. 2022

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Density is an important demographic parameter that is commonly overlooked in studies of wild populations. Here, we examined the effects of variable spatially explicit density on a range of demographic parameters in a wild population of a cryptic ungulate, boreal woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou). Using non-invasive genetic sampling, we applied spatial capture–recapture methods with landscape covariates to estimate the density of boreal woodland caribou across a 108,806 km2 study area. We then created a familial network from the reconstructed parent–offspring relationships to determine whether spatial density influenced sex-specific individual reproductive success, female pregnancy status, and dispersal distance. We found that animal density varied greatly in response to land cover types and disturbance; animal density was most influenced by landscape composition and distance to roads varying from 0 in areas with >20% deciduous cover to 270 caribou per 1,000 km2 in areas presenting contiguous older coniferous cover. We found that both male and female reproductive success varied with density, with males showing a higher probability of having offspring in higher-density areas, and the opposite for females. No differences were found in female pregnancy rates occurring in high- and low-density areas. Dispersal distances varied with density, with offspring moving shorter distances when parents were found in higher-density areas. Familial networks showed lower-closeness centrality and lower-degree centrality for females in higher-density areas, indicating that females found in higher-density areas tend to be less broadly associated with animals across the range. Although high-density areas do reflect good-quality caribou habitat, the observed decreased closeness and degree centrality measures, dispersal rates, and lower female recruitment rates suggest that remnant habitat patches across the landscape may create population sinks.

show abstract

Section: Data Collection and Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Network Centralitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Identification of familial networks reveals sex-specific density dependence in the dispersal and reproductive success of an endangered ungulate

et al. 2022

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Assessing the suitability of a one‐time sampling event for close‐kin mark‐recapture: A caribou case study

Merriell,

Manseau,

Wilson

2024

Ecology and Evolution

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abundance estimation is frequently an objective of conservation and monitoring initiatives for threatened and other managed populations. While abundance estimation via capture–mark–recapture or spatially explicit capture–recapture is now common, such approaches are logistically challenging and expensive for species such as boreal caribou (Rangifer tarandus), which inhabit remote regions, are widely dispersed, and exist at low densities. Fortunately, the recently developed ‘close‐kin mark–recapture’ (CKMR) framework, which uses the number of kin pairs obtained within a sample to generate an abundance estimate, eliminates the need for multiple sampling events. As a result, some caribou managers are interested in using this method to generate an abundance estimate from a single, non‐invasive sampling event for caribou populations. We conducted a simulation study using realistic boreal caribou demographic rates and population sizes to assess how population size and the proportion of the population surveyed impact the accuracy and precision of single‐survey CKMR‐based abundance estimates. Our results indicated that abundance estimates were biased and highly imprecise when very small proportions of the population were sampled, regardless of the population size. However, the larger the population size, the smaller the required proportion of the population surveyed to generate both accurate and reasonably precise estimates. Additionally, we also present a case study in which we used the CKMR framework to generate annual female abundance estimates for a small caribou population in Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada, from 2006 to 2015 and compared them to existing published capture–mark–recapture‐based estimates. Both the accuracy and precision of the annual CKMR‐based abundance estimates varied across years and were sensitive to the proportion of pairwise kinship comparisons which yielded a mother–offspring pair. Taken together, our study demonstrates that it is possible to generate CKMR‐based abundance estimates from a single sampling event for small caribou populations, so long as a sufficient sampling intensity can be achieved.

show abstract

The structure and connectivity of an archipelagic population of black bears

Cooper,

Edwards,

Van Stappen

et al. 2024

Conserv Genet

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Spatial familial networks to infer demographic structure of wild populations

Abstract: This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Cited by 6 publications

References 66 publications

Identification of familial networks reveals sex-specific density dependence in the dispersal and reproductive success of an endangered ungulate

Identification of familial networks reveals sex-specific density dependence in the dispersal and reproductive success of an endangered ungulate

Assessing the suitability of a one‐time sampling event for close‐kin mark‐recapture: A caribou case study

The structure and connectivity of an archipelagic population of black bears

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About