Our
Sikhote-Alin Research Center hosted one more 5-day workshop. This time we taught population ecology, namely methods to estimate population abundance and then analyze these data.
'How many individuals are out there?' That is a question which is often asked by researchers and public. However, it is a very challenging task to obtain realistic estimates of population density. We discussed transect and plot surveys, methods of capture-recapture, spatially-explicit methods, and survey of animals when individuals are not recognized. For rare and elusive species, occupancy analysis was introduced.
An exercise on estimating the fish abundance using the capture-recapture method at
the Population Ecology Workshop by WCS Russia.
Population growth rate – one more important parameter which conservationists and ecologists often analyze. To answer questions about population trends, attendees learned how to conduct population viability analysis. It was great to see that every participant was eager to learn challenging math and various models necessary to conduct PVA. All exercises were done with programming language R.
Eugenia Bragina is challenging the workshop participants
with the "R" programming language and math statistics.
Participants of the population ecology workshop at WCS Russia Sikhote Alin Research center.
Participants of the population ecology workshop at WCS Russia Sikhote Alin Research center.
Some participants complained about too nice view spoiling their attention focusing during
the workshop. Terney valley - view from WCS SARC location point.