HARVESTING

IN THE LAB

Understanding the impact of harvesting pressures on population dynamics.

Our lab's research on harvesting is working to understand how different harvest strategies affect exploited populations and to develop more sustainable harvesting management techniques to aid in the population recovery of fish and wildlife.

The Projects

Goal

To explore the interaction between harvest selectivity, harvest intensity and environmental factors and to evaluate the effects of these different drivers on the population dynamics of a continuously exploited, size-structured population.

We explore the impact of various harvesting strategies such as harvest pressure, selectivity as well as interactions with other anthropogenic or environmental factors on model populations through controlled laboratory experiments, field studies and by evaluating long-term historical data sets.

Interactions between harvest selectivity and temperature in an exploited population

Observing the responses to harvest selectivity within differing climate conditions in a continuously exploited, size-structured population.

projects

Long-term effects of harvest selectivity on life history traits

Using bench top experiments to look at long term effects of different harvesting strategies on individual life history traits (number of offspring, reproductive frequency, body size).

Sustainable harvesting strategies.

Developing theoretical models to test the impact of current harvesting techniques on both the harvested population and the resulting economic consequences.