A Simulation Framework for Re-estimation of Parameters in a Population Model for Application to a Particular Locality

A model describing the population dynamics of a given animal population can help wildlife managers to explore the consequences of management strategies. A useful model will give predictions of the future size and structure of a population. The parameters of a population dynamics model are survival and reproduction rates, which can themselves be functions of other parameters. Often the data are too sparse to obtain reliable estimates for these parameters for a population of interest, so that data from a different but hopefully similar population of the same species or, failing that, knowledge about related species must be used to provide estimates. Demographic parameters may be a function of environmental factors, so that we need to tailor these estimates to the population the model is to be applied to.