Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Population Biology
When does sampling uncertainty matter in matrix population models? Evidence from published projection matrices
Published: 2026-04-09
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Population Biology
1. The collation of thousands of population projection matrices in the COM(P)ADRE Matrix Databases has enabled large-scale comparative analyses in ecology, evolution, and demography. A persistent challenge is that transition rates are estimated from finite samples, yet the resulting sampling uncertainty is rarely reported and typically ignored in downstream analyses. Although sampling uncertainty [...]
A review of 28 Years of beach-nesting Australian Pied Oystercatcher Haematopus Longirostris conservation in the Richmond River Area, New South Wales
Published: 2026-04-06
Subjects: Ornithology, Population Biology
The Australian pied oystercatcher Haematopus longirostris is a shorebird that is Endangered in the state of New South Wales (NSW), Australia. This study reviewed data from the Richmond River Area Pied Oystercatcher Protection Program 1997–2013 and Richmond River Area Shorebird Protection Program 2014–2024, on the north coast of NSW. The increase in breeding population size from an estimated 25 [...]
Crop species and climate shape amphibian communities and conservation significance of coffee agroforests in the Western Ghats
Published: 2026-04-04
Subjects: Biodiversity, Other Forestry and Forest Sciences, Population Biology, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology
Shade coffee agroforests are recognized as refuges for biodiversity and potential allies in conservation across the human-modified tropics. However, biodiversity is strongly influenced by coffee cultivation methods and climates, both of which vary widely and are increasingly dynamic. In this context, one significant but understudied change is the shift in cultivated species from arabica (Coffea [...]
Efficient Bayesian implementations of capture-recapture models with Stan
Published: 2026-04-02
Subjects: Applied Statistics, Biostatistics, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Population Biology, Statistical Methodology, Statistical Models, Statistics and Probability, Survival Analysis
Capture-recapture (CR) methods are a mainstay of ecological statistics for estimating demographic parameters and population sizes in animal populations. The advent of Bayesian methods made complex hierarchical formulations accessible to practitioners, largely relying on conditional likelihood formulations with latent discrete parameters. However, modern gradient-based MCMC methods that are the [...]
Will Climate Change Affect the Sustainability of Krill Fishing? A Simulation Study.
Published: 2026-03-31
Subjects: Marine Biology, Population Biology, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology
In the Southern Ocean, Antarctic krill form the base of the food web, and are the primary food source for a wide range of species, including whales, penguins and fish. Krill also comprises the largest fishery resource in Antarctica, but are increasingly thought to be impacted by changing environmental conditions associated with climate change. In order to explore potential synergistic impacts of [...]
On Information in Evolutionary Processes
Published: 2026-03-26
Subjects: Evolution, Population Biology
Since the first attempts to introduce an information-theoretical formalism into the description of evolutionary processes, several authors have argued that such approaches are inappropriate because biological evolution does not unfold in a predefined space of possibilities. To properly address that objection, we need to separate the semantics of the emergence of biological functions from the [...]
A robust method for quantifying the contribution of transient dynamics to variation in population growth rate
Published: 2026-03-21
Subjects: Population Biology
Understanding why population growth rates vary through time is central to ecology, evolution, and conservation. In structured populations, such variation arises from both environmentally-driven fluctuations in vital rates and intrinsic transient dynamics generated by changes in population structure. Despite long-standing recognition of these processes, existing approaches do not provide an exact [...]
Towards a better understanding of adaptation: Problem description, partial solutions, and recommendations
Published: 2026-03-20
Subjects: Animal Experimentation and Research, Animal Studies, Behavior and Ethology, Biodiversity, Developmental Biology, Evolution, Human Ecology, Integrative Biology, Life Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Other Genetics and Genomics, Other Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration, Population Biology, Science and Technology Studies
This paper is the product of an international workshop aiming to make progress in our general understanding of adaptation. We met from 5-7 February 2025 in Hannover (Germany), funded by the foundation “Volkswagen Stiftung”. For our group of theoretical and empirical biologists, social scientists, and philosophers of science we set up a program to facilitate communication and collaboration between [...]
The scent of survival in a warming world: how monoterpenes drive thermal adaptation in thyme
Published: 2026-03-18
Subjects: Comparative and Evolutionary Physiology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Evolution, Life Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Other Plant Sciences, Physiology, Plant Biology, Plant Sciences, Population Biology
1 Monoterpenes are key plant secondary metabolites with well known defensive and ecological functions, yet their role in abiotic stress tolerance remains poorly understood. In many Mediterranean plants, monoterpene composition varies markedly within and among species and is associated with climatic gradients, suggesting that these compounds may mediate plant responses to extreme heat. 2 We [...]
Evaluating population resilience to anticipated stressors using integrated population modeling: a case study of Peregrine Falcons
Published: 2026-03-16
Subjects: Biodiversity, Biology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Ornithology, Population Biology
Reliable estimates of demographic parameters are fundamental to understanding population dynamics and guiding conservation efforts. Integrated population models (IPMs) provide a powerful framework for jointly analyzing diverse data sources to estimate demographic rates and population trajectories, evaluate resilience to environmental stressors, and project population dynamics info the future. We [...]
Echo-dash: Keeping ecologists in the loop with an open source, online ecoacoustic dashboard for interactive exploration of spatiotemporal soundscape data
Published: 2026-03-08
Subjects: Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, Biodiversity, Databases and Information Systems, Environmental Monitoring, Population Biology, Software Engineering, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology
Passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) is being adopted in a range of contexts. Emerging methods facilitate analysis of large-scale data sets, but ecological interpretation of acoustic indices is not straightforward. In addition, the technical and logistical requirements of using emerging AI methods for big data mean that conservation actors increasingly adopt third-party analysis solutions. We argue [...]
Do harbour porpoise mortality records reflect living population structure? A matrix population model diagnostic
Published: 2026-03-04
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Population Biology
Effective conservation of marine mammals depends on reliable demographic information, yet acquiring such data for highly mobile cetaceans is challenging. Harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) are widely used as sentinel species, but much of what is known about their demography comes from opportunistic sources, such as stranding and bycatch records. While invaluable, these data may be subject to [...]
The Individualised Niche in Motion; quantifying individualised niches with movement data
Published: 2026-02-26
Subjects: Aquaculture and Fisheries Life Sciences, Behavior and Ethology, Evolution, Ornithology, Other Animal Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Population Biology, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology, Zoology
Individuals of the same species often differ consistently in their use of resources, their responses to environmental gradients, and their movement decisions. Between-individual variation across niche axes has been shown to have important ecological consequences. Yet practical frameworks that translate modern tracking data into operational, comparable measures of niche individual specialisation [...]
Beyond Observed Diversity: A Completeness-Based Invasion Theory
Published: 2026-02-26
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Population Biology, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology
Charles Elton proposed that species-rich communities resist invasion better, but support is mainly from local studies, possibly because studies use observed richness alone, ignoring the dark diversity. I propose Completeness-Based Invasion Theory, linking invasibility inversely to community completeness, an index linking observed and dark diversity, enabling unified insights across scales.
Social organisation predicts lifespan in mammals
Published: 2026-02-17
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Evolution, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Population Biology
1. Recent comparative analyses have identified positive associations between social organisation and longevity in mammals, but independent replication with larger datasets is needed to establish the robustness of this pattern. 2. Here, we analysed maximum recorded lifespan, body mass, and social organisation data for 1,436 mammal species using Bayesian phylogenetic comparative methods, confirming [...]