The most interesting related case I know of is the use of Franklin's magic number Ne=500 as a critical threshold for the ability of populations to evolve. The evolutionary model (not ecological) was used to motivate some of the early Northern Spotted Owl work. And it has been used elsewhere and favorably discussed in the journal Conservation Biology.
I take the magic number apart in a couple of papers on evolution in small populations (Foley, Patrick 1992. Small population genetic variation at loci under stabilizing selection. Evolution 46:763-774. Foley, Patrick 1994. Predicting extinction times from environmental stochasticity and carrying capacity. Conservation Biology 8:124-137), and most people seem to think this number was more metaphorical than real. It arose, in fact, due to a conceptual error in a paper by Franklin, nonetheless embraced by Michael Soule and others. Populations of any size can evolve. The problem is the interplay between natural selection and the arrival of new genetic variability. Patrick Foley bees, fleas, flowers, disease [email protected] ________________________________________ From: Ecological Society of America: grants, jobs, news [[email protected]] on behalf of Jessica Moon [[email protected]] Sent: Tuesday, April 16, 2013 12:56 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [ECOLOG-L] Examples of Misuse of Ecological Models? Hello Ecologgers, I am looking for examples of where an ecological model was used to inform an environmental management or policy decision, but the model was later found to be inappropriate for the context in which it was used. If anyone has an example or thoughts on this matter I would greatly appreciate their input. Please feel free to email me directly. Thank you for your thoughts, JB
