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JournalISSN: 0021-8790

Journal of Animal Ecology 

Wiley-Blackwell
About: Journal of Animal Ecology is an academic journal published by Wiley-Blackwell. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Population & Predation. It has an ISSN identifier of 0021-8790. Over the lifetime, 7080 publications have been published receiving 584441 citations.


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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, age and size at maturity at maturity number and size of offspring Reproductive lifespan and ageing are discussed. But the authors focus on the effects of age and stage structure on fertility.
Abstract: Prologue Part I: Evolutionary explanation Demography: age and stage structure Quantitative genetics and reaction norms Trade-offs Lineage-specific effects Part II: Age and size at maturity Number and size of offspring Reproductive lifespan and ageing Appendices Glossary References Author index Subject index.

10,338 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This study provides a working guide to boosted regression trees (BRT), an ensemble method for fitting statistical models that differs fundamentally from conventional techniques that aim to fit a single parsimonious model.
Abstract: Summary 1 Ecologists use statistical models for both explanation and prediction, and need techniques that are flexible enough to express typical features of their data, such as nonlinearities and interactions 2 This study provides a working guide to boosted regression trees (BRT), an ensemble method for fitting statistical models that differs fundamentally from conventional techniques that aim to fit a single parsimonious model Boosted regression trees combine the strengths of two algorithms: regression trees (models that relate a response to their predictors by recursive binary splits) and boosting (an adaptive method for combining many simple models to give improved predictive performance) The final BRT model can be understood as an additive regression model in which individual terms are simple trees, fitted in a forward, stagewise fashion 3 Boosted regression trees incorporate important advantages of tree-based methods, handling different types of predictor variables and accommodating missing data They have no need for prior data transformation or elimination of outliers, can fit complex nonlinear relationships, and automatically handle interaction effects between predictors Fitting multiple trees in BRT overcomes the biggest drawback of single tree models: their relatively poor predictive performance Although BRT models are complex, they can be summarized in ways that give powerful ecological insight, and their predictive performance is superior to most traditional modelling methods 4 The unique features of BRT raise a number of practical issues in model fitting We demonstrate the practicalities and advantages of using BRT through a distributional analysis of the short-finned eel ( Anguilla australis Richardson), a native freshwater fish of New Zealand We use a data set of over 13 000 sites to illustrate effects of several settings, and then fit and interpret a model using a subset of the data We provide code and a tutorial to enable the wider use of BRT by ecologists

4,787 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The present paper is an account of some of the investigations on the biology of the perch in Windermere, which are being conducted in connexion with a trap-fishery experiment, which revealed the relative complexity of the interrelationships of length, weight and condition.
Abstract: The present paper is an account of some of the investigations on the biology of the perch (Perca fluviatilis Linn.) in Windermere, which are being conducted in connexion with a trap-fishery experiment (Worthington, 1950). This experiment is mainly a study of populations, but it has been necessary simultaneously to investigate the general biology of the perch, particularly the growth and related aspects. The computation of a formula to express the length,weight relationship and provide a means of interconverting measurements of length and weight, revealed the relative complexity of the interrelationships of length, weight and condition. Condition in turn was found to be correlated with the seasonal changes in gonad development and growth, and the importance of the effect of stomach contents on weight had also to be assessed. It was decided, therefore, to combine these separate but interrelated aspects in one paper. The main part of the paper is devoted to the questions of length-weight relationship and condition. A brief review of the fundamental bases for the concepts of length-weight relationship and condition and of some of the methods of analysis of length-weight data precedes an account of the application of the chosen methods to the present material and its results. This is followed by an account of seasonal changes in gonad weights. A brief account is then given of the rather scanty data available on the weight of stomach contents. The seasonal changes in condition are then described and, finally, some of the results are summarized, combined and discussed as a picture of the seasonal cycle in the Windermere perch. In the statistical analysis of the length-weight relationship the data for only one group of fish are given in full (Tables i and 2) as an example of the method of computation used for all the groups. Again, in the section on seasonal changes in gonad weight and condition Figs. 2-7 are based partly on tables of data which are not published. The full tables have been deposited with the Freshwater Biological Association, from whom copies can be obtained.

3,332 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is shown that in a large collection of Lepidoptera captured in Malaya the frequency of the number of species represented by different numbers of individuals fitted somewhat closely to a hyperbola type of curve, so long as only the rarer species were considered.
Abstract: Part 1. It is shown that in a large collection of Lepidoptera captured in Malaya the frequency of the number of species represented by different numbers of individuals fitted somewhat closely to a hyperbola type of curve, so long as only the rarer species were considered. The data for the commoner species was not so strictly `randomized', but the whole series could be closely fitted by a series of the logarithmic type as described by Fisher in Part 3. Other data for random collections of insects in the field were also shown to fit fairly well to this series. Part 2. Extensive data on the capture of about 1500 Macrolepidoptera of about 240 species in a light-trap at Harpenden is analysed in relation to Fisher's mathematical theory and is shown to fit extremely closely to the calculations. The calculations are applied first to the frequency of occurrence of species represented by different numbers of individuals--and secondly to the number of species in samples of different sizes from the same population. The parameter ` alpha ', which it is suggested should be called the `index of diversity', is shown to have a regular seasonal change in the case of the Macrolepidoptera in the trap. In addition, samples from two traps which overlooked somewhat different vegetation are shown to have ` alpha ' values which are significantly different. It is shown that, provided the samples are not small, ` alpha ' is the increase in the number of species obtained by increasing the size of a sample by e (2.718). A diagram is given (Fig. 8) from which any one of the values, total number of species, total number of individuals and index of diversity (alpha), can be obtained approximately if the other two are known. The standard error of alpha is also indicated on the same diagram. Part 3. A theoretical distribution is developed which appears to be suitable for the frequencies with which different species occur in a random collection, in the common case in which many species are so rare that their chance of inclusion is small. The relationships of the new distribution with the negative binomial and the Poisson series are established. Numerical processes are exhibited for fitting the series to observations containing given numbers of species and individuals, and for estimating the parameter alpha representing the richness in species of the material sampled; secondly, for calculating the standard error of alpha, and thirdly, for testing whether the series exhibits a significant deviation from the limiting form used. Special tables are presented for facilitating these calculations.

3,121 citations

Performance
Metrics
No. of papers from the Journal in previous years
YearPapers
2023105
2022212
2021275
2020248
2019166
2018157