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Wavelet analysis of ecological time series

  • Population Ecology - Original Paper
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Abstract

Wavelet analysis is a powerful tool that is already in use throughout science and engineering. The versatility and attractiveness of the wavelet approach lie in its decomposition properties, principally its time-scale localization. It is especially relevant to the analysis of non-stationary systems, i.e., systems with short-lived transient components, like those observed in ecological systems. Here, we review the basic properties of the wavelet approach for time-series analysis from an ecological perspective. Wavelet decomposition offers several advantages that are discussed in this paper and illustrated by appropriate synthetic and ecological examples. Wavelet analysis is notably free from the assumption of stationarity that makes most methods unsuitable for many ecological time series. Wavelet analysis also permits analysis of the relationships between two signals, and it is especially appropriate for following gradual change in forcing by exogenous variables.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the anonymous referees who helped to improve the quality and the clarity of this work. B. C., F. M. and S. J. are partially supported by the program REMIGE–ANR Biodiversité 2005-011.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ecole Normale Supérieure, CNRS UMR 7625, 46 rue d’Ulm, 75230, Paris, France

    Bernard Cazelles

  2. IRD UR GEODES, 93143, Bondy, France

    Bernard Cazelles

  3. CHU Pitié-Salpêtrière, LENA – CNRS UPR 640, 75651, Paris, France

    Mario Chavez

  4. Canada Research Chair in Conservation of Northern Ecosystems, Université du Québec à Rimouski, Rimouski, QC, Canada, G5L 3A1

    Dominique Berteaux

  5. Centre de Recherche Halieutique Méditerrannéen et Tropical, IRD, UR 109 THETIS, BP 171, 34203, Sète, France

    Frédéric Ménard

  6. Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis (CEES), Department of Biology, University of Oslo, P.O. Box 1050, Blindern, 0316, Oslo, Norway

    Jon Olav Vik & Nils C. Stenseth

  7. Centre d’Etudes Biologiques de Chizé, CNRS, 79360, Villiers en Bois, France

    Stéphanie Jenouvrier

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  1. Bernard Cazelles
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  2. Mario Chavez
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  3. Dominique Berteaux
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  4. Frédéric Ménard
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  5. Jon Olav Vik
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  6. Stéphanie Jenouvrier
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  7. Nils C. Stenseth
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Correspondence to Bernard Cazelles.

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Communicated by Wolf Mooij.

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Cazelles, B., Chavez, M., Berteaux, D. et al. Wavelet analysis of ecological time series. Oecologia 156, 287–304 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-008-0993-2

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