For a rapidly declining population simultaneously tackling multiple threats are necessary

Using integrated population modelling to quantify the implications of multiple threatening processes for a rapidly declining population

Jonathan R. Rhodes, Chooi Fei Ng, Deidré L. de Villiers, Harriet J. Preece, Clive A. McAlpine, Hugh P. Possingham

 Biological Conservation
Volume 144, Issue 3, March 2011, Pages 1081-1088

Population decline of threatened species could be due to threats from multiple sources. To come up with an appropriate conservation strategy estimates of the impact of each of these threats, on the rate of population decline is sine qua non. But it is a stark reality that for the vast majority of species this information is lacking.

In this paper the researchers demonstrate the application of integrated population modelling as a means of deriving robust estimates of the impact of multiple threats for a rapidly declining koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) population in South-east Queensland, Australia. This approach reduces uncertainty and bias by formally integrating information from multiple data sources into a single model. It substantially reduces uncertainty.

The researchers sign off with following words “Strategies for simultaneously tackling multiple threats are necessary; a situation that is likely to be true for many of the world’s threatened species. This study provides an important framework for quantifying the conservation requirements of species undergoing declines due to multiple threats.”