Methods and applications of population viability analysis (PVA): A review

With the accelerating human consumption of natural resources, the problems associated with endangered species caused by habitat loss and fragmentation have become greater and more urgent than ever. Conceptually associated with the theories of island biogeography, population viability analysis (PVA) has been one of the most important approaches in studying and protecting endangered species, and this methodology has occupied a central place in conservation biology and ecology in the past several decades. PVA has been widely used and proven effective in many cases, but its predictive ability and accuracy are still in question. Also, its application needs expand. To overcome some of the problems, we believe that PVA needs to incorporate some principles and methods from other fields, particularly landscape ecology and sustainability science. Integrating landscape pattern and socioeconomic factors into PVA will make the approach theoretically more comprehensive and practically more useful. Here, we reviewed the history, basic conception, research methods, and modeling applications and their accuracies of PVA, and proposed the perspective in this field.