Final projects for NRES 470

Students will work in groups of ~3-4 people to perform a population viability analysis (PVA) to rank conservation or management actions for a species of conservation concern (species of your choice!). Grading will be based on finished products (written and oral presentations) as well as project proposals and written peer reviews.

Overview

  • Select a species and management question of interest.
  • Perform a thorough literature review on your species of interest- collect all the information you can about life history (e.g., age at maturity), key vital rates (e.g., stage-structured birth and survival rates), carrying capacity, etc.
  • Construct a population viability analysis (PVA) model, parameterized using the best information you can find in the literature (using InsightMaker or R as a modeling platform).
  • Use your PVA model to run scenario tests that address a conservation or management question (to test your research question)
  • Use the PVA results to rank conservation or management actions for your species or population of interest
  • Write up the results and present your results to the class!

Timeline

  • PROPOSAL: Due Fri March 8!
  • INITIAL PVA Due Wed April 10: description of how your PVA model works and where the parameter estimates come from – and a link to a working PVA model!
  • DRAFT FINAL PAPER: Due Mon April 22.
  • PEER REVIEWS: Fri Apr 26 in lab.
  • FINAL PRESENTATIONS: Wed May 1 and Fri May 3!
  • FINAL FINAL PAPER: Due Wed May 15 (last day of finals period)

Remember that the semester will get crazy at the end (including for your instructors). Plan ahead!