Spotted Owl Metapopulation Dynamics in Southern California

Abstract

1. The California spotted owl Strix occidentalis occidentalis is found in the Sierra Nevada and in a series of isolated populations in the mountains of southern California. 2. We developed a model to assess the risk of decline of the southern California spotted owl metapopulation. We modelled the spatial structure of this metapopulation by incorporating distance-dependent dispersal and correlation among the population growth rates. 3. Demographic characteristics of the largest insular population were estimated from colour-ringing the majority of the territorial population. This owl population declined dramatically during the study period, 1987-93