Table 4. Variance in deterministic growth rate (λd) for Piping Plovers in southern Nova Scotia and the Gulf of St Lawrence 1998–2003, based on variance and sensitivity of each population parameter. Parameter† Value N Variance V(x) Sensitivity (δλ/δx) Contribution to variance in λ: (δλ/δx)2 * V(x) South NS ΦA 0.7324 57 0.0044 1.0140 0.0045 ΦJ 0.3279 134 0.0039 0.7970 0.0025 ys 0.8095 28 0.0055 0.0748 <0.0001 yt 0.9910 28 0.0003 0.0545 <0.0001 E 3.8065 93 0.3317 0.0687 0.0016 h 0.4603 5 0.0229 0.5678 0.0074       Total V(λ) 0.0160 Gulf ΦA 0.7331 208 0.0015 1.0090 0.0015 ΦJ 0.2395 425 0.0014 0.9404 0.0013 ys 0.8504 22 0.0058 0.0564 <0.0001 yt 0.9823 22 0.0008 0.0428 <0.0001 E 3.9389 229 0.0840 0.0572 0.0003 h 0.5120 6 0.0098 0.4400 0.0019     Total V(λ) 0.0049 † Note that only the annual juvenile survival rate (i.e., the product of fledging success and overwinter survival) is included here, as we have a direct estimate of its variance and the elements of the product f and ΦJw (i.e., ΦJ) always appear together.