The limits to population density in birds and mammals

Stephens, P.A.; Vieira, M.V.; Willis, S.G.; Carbone, C.

doi:10.1111/ele.13227

The limits to population density in birds and mammals

Stephens, P.A.; Vieira, M.V.; Willis, S.G.; Carbone, C.

Authors

Professor Philip Stephens philip.stephens@durham.ac.uk
Professor

M.V. Vieira

Professor Stephen Willis s.g.willis@durham.ac.uk
Professor

C. Carbone

Abstract

We address two fundamental ecological questions: what are the limits to animal population density and what determines those limits? We develop simple alternative models to predict population limits in relation to body mass. A model assuming that within‐species area use increases with the square of daily travel distance broadly predicts the scaling of empirical extremes of minimum density across birds and mammals. Consistent with model predictions, the estimated density range for a given mass, ‘population scope’, is greater for birds than for mammals. However, unlike mammals and carnivorous birds, expected broad relationships between body mass and density extremes are not supported by data on herbivorous and omnivorous birds. Our results suggest that simple constraints on mobility and energy use/supply are major determinants of the scaling of density limits, but further understanding of interactions between dietary constraints and density limits are needed to predict future wildlife population responses to anthropogenic threats.

Citation

Stephens, P., Vieira, M., Willis, S., & Carbone, C. (2019). The limits to population density in birds and mammals. Ecology Letters, 22(4), 654-663. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13227

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Dec 28, 2018
Online Publication Date	Feb 6, 2019
Publication Date	Jan 1, 2019
Deposit Date	Jan 9, 2019
Publicly Available Date	Apr 23, 2019
Journal	Ecology Letters
Print ISSN	1461-023X
Publisher	Wiley
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	22
Issue	4
Pages	654-663
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13227

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© 2019 The Authors Ecology Letters published by CNRS and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

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