DOI: 10.5061/dryad.2h3qj2r
title: Data from: Evaluating the efficacy of independent versus simultaneous management strategies to address ecological and genetic threats to population viability

description: 1. Small, declining populations can face simultaneous, interacting
 ecological and genetic threats to viability. Conservation management
 strategies designed to tackle such threats independently may then prove
 ineffective. Population viability analyses that evaluate the efficacy of
 management strategies implemented independently versus simultaneously are
 then essential to the design of effective management plans, yet such
 quantitative evaluations are typically lacking. 2. We used stochastic
 individual-based models, parameterised with high-quality multi-year
 demographic and genetic data, to evaluate the efficacy of independent or
 simultaneous ecological (supplementary feeding) and genetic
 (translocations to alleviate inbreeding) management strategies for a
 red-billed chough (Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax) population of major
 conservation concern. This population is experiencing ecological threats
 from food limitation and genetic threats from escalating inbreeding.
 Conservation managers therefore face a dilemma: supplementary feeding may
 be ineffective if inbreeding is limiting stochastic population growth rate
 (λs), while translocations may be ineffective if food is limiting. 3.
 Model simulations suggested that the focal population will decline to
 extinction relatively rapidly with no conservation management (mean
 λs≈0.86) and with genetic management alone (λs≈0.90). Ecological
 management alone reduced but did not halt the population decline
 (λs≈0.93). However, simultaneous genetic and ecological management yielded
 population stability (λs≈1), with genetic rescue lasting ~25 years. 4.
 These outcomes arose because the capacity for translocations to alleviate
 inbreeding depression is limited by food availability, while supplementary
 feeding cannot achieve population viability in the presence of
 accumulating inbreeding. However, supplementary feeding improved
 environmental quality enough to allow expression of variance in fitness
 and thus inbreeding depression, meaning that reductions in inbreeding
 following translocations can increase λs. 5. Synthesis and applications.
 Our analyses suggest that simultaneous management of ecological and
 genetic threats will be critical to ensuring viability of Scotland’s
 chough population; neither strategy independently is likely to achieve
 population persistence and may consequently waste conservation resources.
 Managers of other resource-limited, inbred populations should consider
 that the efficacy of strategies designed to alleviate ecological and
 genetic threats may be interdependent, such that holistic management is
 essential to ensure population viability.
description: ReadMeReadMe file detailing
 the locations of data files and describing the data files available in
 this archive.data baseline
 modelThis file contains the
 output data from the Baseline model (i.e. 'No Management
 scenario').data ecological
 managementThis file is the output
 data from the model of 'Ecological Management', based on the
 effects of supplementary feeding.data genetic management
 1translocationThis file is the output
 data from the model of 'Genetic Management' consisting of one
 translocation of 24 individuals.data genetic management
 2translocationsThis file is the output
 data from the model of 'Genetic Management' consisting of two
 translocations of 24 individuals each.data genetic management
 dbltranslocationsThis file is the output
 data from the model of 'Genetic Management' consisting of two
 large translocations of 48 individuals each.data simultaneous
 management 1translocationThis file is the output
 data from the model of 'Simultaneous Genetic and Ecological
 Management', consisting of one translocation of 24
 individuals.data simultaneous
 management 2translocationsThis file is the output
 data from the model of 'Simultaneous Genetic and Ecological
 Management', consisting of two translocations of 24 individuals
 each.data simultaneous
 management dbltranslocationsThis file is the output
 data from the model of 'Simultaneous Genetic and Ecological
 Management', consisting of two large translocations of 48 individuals
 each.data for 1st yr
 survivalThis file is the data
 required for estimation of the effect of supplementary feeding on 1st year
 survival probability.data for 2nd yr
 survivalThis file is the data
 required for estimation of the effect of supplementary feeding on 2nd year
 survival probability.