META-X®-Software for Metapopulation Viability Analysis

by Karin Frank, UFZ-Centre for Environmental Research Leipzig-Halle (Editor), Helmut Lorek, Frank Köster, Michael Sonnenschein

Overview

Meta-X is a user-friendly computer program that allows students, teachers, and researchers to perform a metapopulation viability analysis i.e. to assess the extinction risk of (meta)populations on discrete, partially isolated patches of habitat, in a comfortable way. The CD comes with an extensive handbook which explains the basic concept of the program and takes you on a guided tour through a model experiment. It further provides the necessary scientific background on both metapopulation dynamics and population viability analysis.

A special feature of Meta-X is that it supports comparative analyses of alternative scenarios. This predestines Meta-X to serve as an aid for decision making in conservation management and landscape planning. Furthermore, handbook and software together provide an invaluable help in research and teaching.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783642629068
Publisher:	Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Publication date:	03/23/2013
Edition description:	Softcover reprint of the original 1st ed. 2003
Pages:	195
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.02(d)

Table of Contents

1.1 What Is META-X?.- Metapopulation.- PVA.- Ecological Models.- 1.2 What Is so Special About META-X?.- 1.3 In What Areas Can META-X Be Used?.- In Teaching.- In Empirical Research.- In Biological Conservation and Planning.- 1.4 What Do You Need to Use META-X?.- 1.5 What Cannot Be Done with META-X?.- 1.6 News on META-X.- Installation.- Basic Concepts.- 4.1 The Model.- 4.2 Landscape Structure.- Position of Patches.- Initial Occupancy.- Net of Connections.- 4.3 Patch Characteristics.- Local Extinction Rate.- Number of Emigrants.- Number of Immigrants Needed.- 4.4 Spatial Processes.- Dispersal.- Correlated Extinctions.- 4.5 Simulation.- Control Parameters.- Interactive Simulations.- Automatic Simulations.- 4.6 Evaluation.- 4.7 Organizing Projects.- Scenarios.- Experiments.- Projects.- 4.8 The META-X Steps.- Guided Tour.- 5.1 Your First META-X Experiment.- Defining a New Project.- Creating a New Project by Saving.- Enter Project Documentation.- Creating and Documenting Your First Experiment.- Naming the Species and Delineating the Landscape.- Defining Control Parameters.- Scenario: Documentation and Defining the Landscape.- Patch Characteristics.- Connection Between Patches.- Correlation Length.- Dispersal Range.- Main Model Parameters.- Saving the Project to Your Hard Disk.- 5.2 Interactive Simulation.- Choosing a Scenario.- Interactive Simulation.- Check Parameters.- Pattern of Occupancy.- Modifying the Scenario.- Mean Time to Extinction.- Adding a Second Scenario.- 5.3 Automatic Simulation.- 5.4 Evaluation.- 5.5 Generating a Report.- 5.6 Where Next?.- The Project Tree.- 6.1 The Elements of the Project Tree.- The Root of the Project Tree.- The Experiments Branch.- The Scenarios Branch.- 6.2 Working with the Project Tree.- Working with Experiments.- Working with Scenarios.- Scenarios and Experiments.- 7.1 The Experiment Wizard.- Compile Documentation.- Specify the Species and the Study Area.- Specify Control Parameters.- Specify New Scenario (Based on...).- Modify Existing Scenario.- Complete Definition.- 7.2 The Scenario Wizard.- Documentation of the Scenario.- Number of Patches for a Scenario.- Position of Patches.- Patch Characteristics.- Connection of Patches.- Correlation Length.- Correlation Length (Direct).- Correlation Length (Indirect).- Mean Dispersal Range.- Mean Dispersal Range (Direct).- Mean Dispersal Range (Indirect).- Rates of Colonization.- Main Model Parameters.- Control Parameters for the Whole Experiment.- End of the Scenario Specification.- 7.3 Homogeneous Parameters.- 7.4 User-Defined Scenarios and the Parameter Hierarchy of META-X.- Submodels.- The Standard Submodels of META-X.- User-Defined.- Parameter Hierarchy.- Update Matrix: Warning Message.- Simulation and Evaluation.- 8.1 Interactive Simulation.- Metapopulation Dynamics.- Recorded Data.- Diagrams.- Control Unit.- Further Analysis — FD.- Further Analysis — TM.- Change Scenario.- 8.2 Simulation and Evaluation of Scenarios.- Automatic Simulation.- Evaluation.- 8.3 Simulation and Evaluation of Experiments.- Select Experiments and Scenarios.- Check Control Parameters.- Batch Simulation.- What to Evaluate?.- Evaluation.- The Landscape Editor.- 9.1 Elements of the Landscape Editor.- 9.2 Visualization.- 9.3 Modifying Existing Scenarios.- 9.4 Saving Your Work with the Apply Button.- 9.5 Creating New Scenarios.- Parameter Variation.- 10.1 Variation Experiments.- Creating Variation Experiments (1).- Creating Variation Experiments (2).- Modify Variation Experiments.- Resetting Variation Experiments.- 10.2 Simulation, Evaluation and Reports.- Import, Export and Report.- 11.1 Import of Model Parameters.- Format of Import Files.- 11.2 Export of Simulation Results.- 11.3 Reports.- Report of Scenarios.- Report of Experiments.- Report of Projects.- 11.4 Exporting Graphs to the Clipboard.- Reference.- 12.1 The META-X Menu.- The File Menu.- The Edit Menu.- The View Menu.- The Experiment Menu.- The Scenario Menu.- The Parameter Variation Menu.- The Editor Menu.- The Tools Menu.- The Window Menu.- The Help Menu.- 12.3 Context Menus.- Project Tree.- Landscape Editor.- Evaluation.- 12.4 Warning Messages.- Scenario Wizard Warning Messages.- Landscape Editor Warning Messages.- Interactive Simulation Warning Messages.- Goals, Methods, and Concepts of PVA.- 13.1 Introduction.- 13.2 Goals of PVA.- 13.3 Ecological Models for PVA.- 13.4 A Shastic Example Model.- 1st Element: Demographic Noise.- 2nd Element: Environmental Noise.- 3rd Density Dependence.- Implementing the Example Model.- Results of the Example Model.- 13.5 Quantifying Persistence and Viability.- Established Phase and Intrinsic Mean Time to Extinction.- Persistence and Viability.- The ln(1-P0) plot.- 13.6 Dealing with Uncertainty.- Relative Risk Assessment.- Sensitivity Analysis.- 13.7 Overview of PVA Models.- 13.8 Potentials and Limitations of PVA.- 13.9 Metapopulation Viability Analysis.- 13.10 Alternatives to Tailored PVA Models.- 13.11 The Conception of META-X.- 13.12 Suggested Reading.- Appendix: Technical Aspects of the ln(1-P0) Plot.- The META-X Model in Detail.- 14.1 Introduction.- 14.2 The Main Model.- Local Extinction.- Correlated Extinction.- Recolonization.- 14.3 The Submodels Provided by META-X.- A Submodel for the Degree of Correlation of Local Extinction.- A Submodel for the Rate of Colonization.- A Submodel for Reachability.- 14.4 Summary and Discussion.- Appendix: the Simulation Algorithm.- Parameterizing META-X.- 15.1 Introduction.- 15.2 General Concepts of Parameterization.- Direct Parameterization of Main Model Parameters.- Indirect Parameterization.- Mechanistic Submodels.- ’soft’ Data, Empirical Knowledge and Hypotheses.- 15.3 Dealing with Uncertainty.- Upper and Lower Boundaries.- Scenarios.- Parameter Variation.- 15.4 Some Specific Guidelines.- Parameterizing the Landscape.- Local Patch Characteristics.- Correlated Extinctions.- Colonization.- 15.5 Summary and Discussion.- Example Applications.- 16.1 Introduction.- 16.2 Examples of Theoretical Problems.- Demonstrating and Analysing the Minimal Dispersal Range.- Increasing the Number of Emigrants from a Certain Patch.- 16.3 Examples of PVA for Specific Metapopulations.- Ecological Uncertainty and the Ranking of Management Options:.- Metapopulation Scenarios of Capercaillie Tetrao urogallus in the Bavarian Alps.- 16.4 Example of Decision Support for Landscape Management.- 16.5 Summary.- References.