You are placed in charge of a small population of Sun Bears in a South-East Asia

Question

You are placed in charge of a small population of Sun Bears in a South-East Asian reserve. Prior to your arrival, the field team was carefully monitoring the population for several years. Having measured the vital rates of each of life stage, they have developed the following life-cycle diagram with the average stage-transition rates for females:

The Sun Bear population now only has 6 newborns, 32 juveniles, 29 small females, and 8 mature females. The reserve manager wants to know if the population is going to make it.

(6)

a) Write out the stage-based transition matrix that describes the females in this population with the correct labels on the outside of the matric for different life stages (3 pts);

b) State what the semi-circular arrows (on top), the arrows pointing to the right, and the arrows pointing to the left denote (1 pt);

c) State what the numbers on the diagonal, and those on the off-diagonal represent. (1 pt)

d) In an age-based model, do the numbers on the diagonal or off-diagonal have to equal 0? Why? (1 pt)

Explanation / Answer

Write out the stage-based transition matrix that describes the females in this population with the correct labels on the outside of the matric for different life stages (3 pts);

b) State what the semi-circular arrows (on top), the arrows pointing to the right, and the arrows pointing to the left denote (1 pt);

c) State what the numbers on the diagonal, and those on the off-diagonal represent. (1 pt)

d) In an age-based model, do the numbers on the diagonal or off-diagonal have to equal 0? Why? (1 pt)

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