Much ado about modeling: Why fieldwork should remain the soul of wildlife ecology and management

Abstract

Models have become an integral component of wildlife conservation and management, and lie at the foundation of decision-making in our field today. Yet, like too much of anything, there are risks with their overuse. Herein, we argue that despite their value, our increasing reliance on, and incorporation of, models into our data analysis, education of future wildlife profesionals, and development of management decisions has inherent risks. We believe that increased reliance on models has resulted in a detachment from the species and systems that we model, which threatens the quality of our science and, ultimately, decision-making. The impact of models, both pros and cons, on the wildlife field should be an often-discussed topic at wildlife conventions and within research agencies and academic institutions.

Aniruddha Belsare

Assistant Professor of Disease Ecology

My research interests include wildlife disease ecology, disease modeling and wildlife medicine.