Criticisms biologically unwarranted and analytically irrelevant: Reply to Rominger et al.
Journal of Wildlife Management
By: Louis C. Bender and M.E. Weisenberger
Links
- More information: Publisher Index Page (via DOI)
- Download citation as: RIS | Dublin Core
Abstract
The criticisms of Rominger et al. (2008) of our retrospective analysis of desert bighorn sheep (DBS; Ovis canadensis mexicana) dynamics in the San Andres Mountains of south-central New Mexico, USA, contained many biological errors and analytical oversights. Herein, we show that Rominger et al. (2008) 1) overstated both magnitude and potential effect of predator removal; 2) incorrectly claimed that our total precipitation (TP) model did not fit the data when TP correctly classed ???66 of subsequent population increases and declines (P ??? 0.063); 3) presented a necessary prerequisite of the exponential model (serial correlation between Nt and Nt1) as the key relationship in the DBS data, when it merely reflected that DBS are strongly K-selected and was irrelevant to our hypothesis tests specific to factors affecting the instantaneous rate of population increase (r); 4) greatly oversimplified relationships among precipitation, arid environments, and DBS; and 5) advocated a time for collection of lamb/female (L/F) ratio data that was unrelated to any meaningful period in the biological year of DBS and consequently presented L/F ratio data unrelated to observed dynamics of DBS. In contrast, the L/F ratios used in Bender and Weisenberger (2005) correctly predicted annual changes and were correlated with long-term population rates of change.
Suggested Citation
Bender, L.C., and Weisenberger, M., 2009, Criticisms biologically unwarranted and analytically irrelevant: Reply to Rominger et al.: Journal of Wildlife Management, v. 73, no. 5, p. 806-810, https://doi.org/10.2193/2008-219.
| Publication type | Article |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
| Title | Criticisms biologically unwarranted and analytically irrelevant: Reply to Rominger et al. |
| Series title | Journal of Wildlife Management |
| DOI | 10.2193/2008-219 |
| Volume | 73 |
| Issue | 5 |
| Publication Date | December 13, 2010 |
| Year Published | 2009 |
| Language | English |
| Larger Work Type | Article |
| Larger Work Subtype | Journal Article |
| Larger Work Title | Journal of Wildlife Management |
| First page | 806 |
| Last page | 810 |