Integrating multiple data sources to fit matrix population models for interacting species

Frédéric Barraquand and Olivier Gimenez

Ecological Modelling, 2019, vol. 411, issue C

Abstract: Inferring interactions between populations of different species is a challenging statistical endeavour, which requires a large amount of data. There is therefore some incentive to combine all available sources of data into a single analysis to do so. In demography and single-population studies, Integrated Population Models combine population counts, capture–recapture and reproduction data to fit matrix population models. Here, we extend this approach to the community level in a stage-structured predator–prey context. We develop Integrated Community Models (ICMs), implemented in a Bayesian framework, to fit multispecies nonlinear matrix models to multiple data sources. We assessed the value of the different sources of data using simulations of ICMs under different scenarios contrasting data availability. We found that combining all data types (capture–recapture, counts, and reproduction) allows the estimation of both demographic and interaction parameters, unlike count-only data which typically generate high bias and low precision in interaction parameter estimates for short time series. Moreover, reproduction surveys informed the estimation of interactions particularly well when compared to capture–recapture programs, and have the advantage of being less costly. Overall, ICMs offer an accurate representation of stage structure in community dynamics, and foster the development of efficient observational study designs to monitor communities in the field.

Keywords: Integrated population model; Matrix population model; Community dynamics; Predator–prey; Density-dependence; Identifiability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304380019302133
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecomod:v:411:y:2019:i:c:s0304380019302133

DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2019.06.001

Access Statistics for this article

Ecological Modelling is currently edited by Brian D. Fath

More articles in Ecological Modelling from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().