Title:
Comment on Mollet and Cailliet (2002): confronting models with data.
Year:
2003
Authors:
Miller, TJ; Frisk, MG; Fogarty, MJ
Source:
Marine and Freshwater Research
54
(
6
)
:
737
-
738
DOI:
10.1071/MF02079
Abstract:
In a recent paper, Mollet and Cailliet (2002) developed demographic models for four species of elasmobranchs for which substantial amounts of data were available. In their work, they compared predictions from life history tables (LHT), age-based or Leslie matrix projection models and stage-based matrix projection models. Mollet and Cailliet conclude that LHT or Leslie matrix models provide the most reasonable estimates of demographic parameters and should form the basis of elasmobranch management. We suggest that the piecemeal comparison of the performance of structurally similar models for a few selected species does not provide a reliable foundation from which to understand elasmobranch life histories; nor does it provide a foundation from which to make recommendations for elasmobranch management