Can traits of individuals inform on how populations respond to change?

We are in great need of an integrative framework that allows ecologists to predict life history strategies from functional traits that inform on population performance. The aim of a recent British Ecological Society cross-journal Special Feature is to link organismal functions, life history strategies and population performance. Here, Dr Isabel Smallegange discusses a test published within this Special Feature that shows how a recently developed dynamic energy … Continue reading Can traits of individuals inform on how populations respond to change?

Sarah MarleyJuly 17, 2018August 12, 2018Leave a comment

Guest post

Population Cycles: Historical Notes from the Bureau of Animal Population to 2018

This guest post by Professor Charles J. Krebs (Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia) looks back at his experiences studying population cycles across several decades, his work with Charles Elton and the team of people who made such work possible. In 1959 I began my Ph.D. research on lemming cycles under Dr. Ian McTaggart Cowan at the University of British Columbia (UBC), Canada. To … Continue reading Population Cycles: Historical Notes from the Bureau of Animal Population to 2018

Sarah MarleyApril 16, 2018May 18, 20181 Comment

Guest post

Global demography in the animal kingdom

Today the paper that introduces the COMADRE Animal Matrix Database was published in Journal of Animal Ecology (Salguero-Gómez et al. 2016). This is an international effort in collaboration with ca. 10 other institutions. Our main goal was to replicate the impact that its sister database, the COMPADRE Plant Matrix Database (Salguero-Gómez et al. 2015) has had for plant ecology and evolution, but in the rich animal kingdom. Open access to the database itself can be gained from the COMADRE website.

Continue reading “Global demography in the animal kingdom”