What does the available wild turkey research tell us and what gaps need to be filled moving forward? Dr. Chitwood walks us through 50+ years of published literature on eastern wild turkey vital rates. They literally incorporated all of the vital rates published on easterns into a model, to determine the status of population trajectories, and identify which factor was most important in driving those trajectories. This is the first release of the only known, all-inclusive meta-analysis on the wild turkey, so tune in, it is powerful. If you’re thinking nesting or brooding success…think again.

Paper:

Londe, David W., et al. "Review of range‐wide vital rates quantifies eastern wild Turkey population trajectory." Ecology and Evolution 13.2 (2023): e9830.

Figures:

Dr. Colter Chitwood (Academic Profile)

Dr. Marcus Lashley (DrDisturbance) (Academic Profile)

Dr. Will Gulsby (dr_will_gulsby) (Academic Profile)

Turkeys for Tomorrow (turkeysfortomorrow)

UF DEER Lab (ufdeerlab)

Donate to wild turkey research: UF Turkey Donation Fund , Auburn Turkey Donation Fund

This podcast is made possible by Turkeys for Tomorrow, a grassroots organization dedicated to the wild turkey. To learn more about TFT, go to turkeysfortomorrow.org.

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Produced by Charlotte Nowak

Which vital rates are most important to turkey populations? | #13