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Multi-Site Integrated Population Modelling

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Abstract

We examine the performance of a method of integrated population modelling for the joint analysis of different types of demographic data on individuals that exist in, and move between, different sites. The value of the approach is demonstrated by a simulation study which shows substantial improvement in parameter estimation when site-specific census data are combined with demographic data. The multivariate normal approximation to a multi-state mark-recapture likelihood is evaluated, and the performance of a diagonal variance-covariance matrix for the approximation is also examined. The work is motivated by a study of great cormorants. Analysis of the cormorant data suggests that breeders survive better than non-breeders, and also that probabilities of recruitment to breeding have been declining over time for all the colonies of the study. Supplementary material, including notes on the computation of standard errors and extended simulation results, are available online.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Centre for Statistical Ecology, School of Mathematics, Statistics and Actuarial Science, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent, CT2 7NF, England

    R. S. McCrea

  2. School of Mathematics, Statistics and Actuarial Science, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent, CT2 7NF, England

    B. J. T. Morgan

  3. Centre National de la Recherche, Centre d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, UMR 5175, 1919 Route de Mende, 34293, Montpellier, France

    O. Gimenez & J.-D. Lebreton

  4. National Centre for Statistical Ecology, University of Kent, Canterbury, CT2 7NF, England

    P. Besbeas

  5. Athens University of Economics and Business, Athens, Greece

    P. Besbeas

  6. Department of Wildlife Ecology and Biodiversity, National Environmental Research Institute, Aarhus University, Kalø, 8410, Rønde, Denmark

    T. Bregnballe

Authors
  1. R. S. McCrea
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  2. B. J. T. Morgan
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  3. O. Gimenez
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  4. P. Besbeas
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  5. J.-D. Lebreton
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  6. T. Bregnballe
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to R. S. McCrea.

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McCrea, R.S., Morgan, B.J.T., Gimenez, O. et al. Multi-Site Integrated Population Modelling. JABES 15, 539–561 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13253-010-0027-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13253-010-0027-5

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