ABSTRACT
This chapter begins with definitions and describes why populations are different than organisms. It explains the term assessment population is introduced and attributes of populations and organisms. The chapter discusses what it means to protect populations within the context of management goals. It offers insight into what it means to protect populations. Experience shows that population biologists, managers, and the public may think of populations differently in the context of a specific management goal. For example, a management goal to protect wildlife populations might relate to populations as defined by population biologists, or alternatively to protect animals in general. Local populations may be grouped together into larger, regional populations that, when combined, encompass the species. As one switches from group considerations to natural or local populations and finally to metapopulations, the time to response and the area of interest increases. Exchanges between satellite populations may have a directional bias.
