Skip to main content

Research Repository

Advanced Search

Uncertainty in Population Growth Rates: Determining Confidence Intervals from Point Estimates of Parameters

Devenish-Nelson, E.S.; Harris, S.; Soulsbury, C.D.; Richards, S.A.; Stephens, P.A.

Uncertainty in Population Growth Rates: Determining Confidence Intervals from Point Estimates of Parameters Thumbnail


Authors

E.S. Devenish-Nelson

S. Harris

C.D. Soulsbury

S.A. Richards



Abstract

Background Demographic models are widely used in conservation and management, and their parameterisation often relies on data collected for other purposes. When underlying data lack clear indications of associated uncertainty, modellers often fail to account for that uncertainty in model outputs, such as estimates of population growth. Methodology/Principal Findings We applied a likelihood approach to infer uncertainty retrospectively from point estimates of vital rates. Combining this with resampling techniques and projection modelling, we show that confidence intervals for population growth estimates are easy to derive. We used similar techniques to examine the effects of sample size on uncertainty. Our approach is illustrated using data on the red fox, Vulpes vulpes, a predator of ecological and cultural importance, and the most widespread extant terrestrial mammal. We show that uncertainty surrounding estimated population growth rates can be high, even for relatively well-studied populations. Halving that uncertainty typically requires a quadrupling of sampling effort. Conclusions/Significance Our results compel caution when comparing demographic trends between populations without accounting for uncertainty. Our methods will be widely applicable to demographic studies of many species.

Citation

Devenish-Nelson, E., Harris, S., Soulsbury, C., Richards, S., & Stephens, P. (2010). Uncertainty in Population Growth Rates: Determining Confidence Intervals from Point Estimates of Parameters. PLoS ONE, 5(10), Article e13628. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0013628

Journal Article Type Article
Online Publication Date Oct 25, 2010
Publication Date Oct 25, 2010
Deposit Date Nov 25, 2011
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal PLoS ONE
Publisher Public Library of Science
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 5
Issue 10
Article Number e13628
DOI https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0013628

Files

Published Journal Article (866 Kb)
PDF

Publisher Licence URL
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Copyright Statement
Copyright: © 2010 Devenish Nelson et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.





You might also like



Downloadable Citations