Spatio-Temporal Models for Ecologists

James Thorson, Kasper Kristensen

• Publisher: Chapman and Hall/CRC
• Year: 2024
• Print ISBN: 9781032531014
• eBook ISBN: 9781003851868
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Mathematics
• Subtopic: Ecology
• Index: Mathematics

Ecological dynamics are tremendously complicated and are studied at a variety of spatial and temporal scales. Ecologists often simplify analysis by describing changes in density of individuals across a landscape, and statistical methods are advancing rapidly for studying spatio-temporal dynamics. However, spatio-temporal statistics is often presented using a set of principles that may seem very distant from ecological theory or practice. This book seeks to introduce a minimal set of principles and numerical techniques for spatio-temporal statistics that can be used to implement a wide range of real-world ecological analyses regarding animal movement, population dynamics, community composition, causal attribution, and spatial dynamics. We provide a step-by-step illustration of techniques that combine core spatial-analysis packages in R with low-level computation using Template Model Builder. Techniques are showcased using real-world data from varied ecological systems, providing a toolset for hierarchical modelling of spatio-temporal processes. Spatio-Temporal Models for Ecologists is meant for graduate level students, alongside applied and academic ecologists.

Key Features:

• Foundational ecological principles and analyses
• Thoughtful and thorough ecological examples
• Analyses conducted using a minimal toolbox and fast computation
• Code using R and TMB included in the book and available online

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half-Title Page
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Preface
• List of Figures
• List of Tables
• I Introductory
• II Basic
• III Advanced
• A Acknowledgments
• B Appendices
• Bibliography
• Index