Testing spatial PVA models of Australian Treecreepers (Aves: Climacteridae) in fragmented forest

Abstract

Population viability analysis (PVA) and other stochastic population models are frequently built and often used, but rarely tested. Stochastic metapopulation models of the White-throated Treecreeper (Cormobates leucophaea) and the Red-browed Treecreeper (Climacteris erythrops) were developed in a system of 39 remnant patches of eucalypt forest in southeastern New South Wales, Australia. Parameters of the model were estimated using data obtained outside the fragmented system. Field surveys of the patches were conducted to test the predicted probabilities of patch occupancy, which is one of few instances where stochastic population models have been tested with empirical data. The initial models..