Premium
COMADRE : a global data base of animal demography
Author(s) -
SalgueroGómez Roberto,
Jones Owen R.,
Archer C. Ruth,
Bein Christoph,
Buhr Hendrik,
Farack Claudia,
Gottschalk Fränce,
Hartmann Alexander,
Henning Anne,
Hoppe Gabriel,
Römer Gesa,
Ruoff Tara,
Sommer Veronika,
Wille Julia,
Voigt Jakob,
Zeh Stefan,
Vieregg Dirk,
Buckley Yvonne M.,
CheCastaldo Judy,
Hodgson David,
Scheuerlein Alexander,
Caswell Hal,
Vaupel James W.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of animal ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.134
H-Index - 157
eISSN - 1365-2656
pISSN - 0021-8790
DOI - 10.1111/1365-2656.12482
Subject(s) - population , biology , ecology , vital rates , geography , data science , population growth , evolutionary biology , computer science , demography , sociology
Summary The open‐data scientific philosophy is being widely adopted and proving to promote considerable progress in ecology and evolution. Open‐data global data bases now exist on animal migration, species distribution, conservation status, etc. However, a gap exists for data on population dynamics spanning the rich diversity of the animal kingdom world‐wide. This information is fundamental to our understanding of the conditions that have shaped variation in animal life histories and their relationships with the environment, as well as the determinants of invasion and extinction. Matrix population models ( MPM s) are among the most widely used demographic tools by animal ecologists. MPM s project population dynamics based on the reproduction, survival and development of individuals in a population over their life cycle. The outputs from MPM s have direct biological interpretations, facilitating comparisons among animal species as different as Caenorhabditis elegans , Loxodonta africana and Homo sapiens . Thousands of animal demographic records exist in the form of MPM s, but they are dispersed throughout the literature, rendering comparative analyses difficult. Here, we introduce the COMADRE Animal Matrix Database, an open‐data online repository, which in its version 1.0.0 contains data on 345 species world‐wide, from 402 studies with a total of 1625 population projection matrices. COMADRE also contains ancillary information (e.g. ecoregion, taxonomy, biogeography, etc.) that facilitates interpretation of the numerous demographic metrics that can be derived from its MPM s. We provide R code to some of these examples. Synthesis : We introduce the COMADRE Animal Matrix Database, a resource for animal demography. Its open‐data nature, together with its ancillary information, will facilitate comparative analysis, as will the growing availability of databases focusing on other aspects of the rich animal diversity, and tools to query and combine them. Through future frequent updates of COMADRE , and its integration with other online resources, we encourage animal ecologists to tackle global ecological and evolutionary questions with unprecedented sample size.