Data-driven Modelling of Structured Populations

More about the book

This guide provides a comprehensive approach to modeling population dynamics using Integral Projection Models (IPM) based on observational data. Authored by a prominent research team, it includes R code for all computations, catering to ecologists, evolutionary biologists, and mathematical biologists interested in data-driven models for both animal and plant populations. While IPMs may appear complex due to their integral components, the book aims to simplify them, making them the preferred choice for populations characterized by size or other continuous traits. Through real examples of increasing complexity, it illustrates how the life cycle of the study organism informs the appropriate statistical analysis, leading directly to the IPM. The text covers a variety of model types and analyses, including model construction, computational methods, and foundational theory, with more technical details provided in Boxes and Appendices. Readers can access self-contained R code on GitHub to replicate all figures and calculations presented. The authors are established experts in their fields, with affiliations to Cornell University and The University of Sheffield.