Other Research Areas Intern Program Publications Other Links Population Assessment Population Dynamics in Sharks Population dynamics are generally governed by ecological and genetic processes. From an ecological perspective, vital rates are influenced by demographic and ecological processes and several sources of stochasticity which ultimately determine whether a population increases or decreases. We attempt to represent the population dynamics of sharks through demographic methods and assess the status of their stocks through stock assessment methodology. The Leslie-matrix approach also allows us to estimate population growth rates and, in addition, calculate elasticities of e r to changes in vital rates.
Elasticities measure the effect from a proportional change in a vital rate on e r .
More recently, because of the difficulty of ageing many species of sharks, stage-based matrix models have also been used to describe the demography of some species, like the sandbar shark. Most of the demographic analyses conducted so far for sharks, however, have been deterministic. Because of the uncertainity in estimates of vital rates as well as the natural variability in those rates, it is necessary to adopt a stochastic approach. Monte Carlo simulation and elasticity analysis are very useful tools to investigate the demography of a species under uncertainity. Few stock assessments of shark resources have been conducted because catch and catch rate data series and age data are often very limited or completely lacking for shark species.