Download or read book A Hidden Markov Modelling Approach to Understanding Ancient Murrelet Behaviour and Foraging Habitat written by Vivian Pattison and published by . This book was released on 2020 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Seabird species are increasingly threatened around the world due to a range of anthropogenic impacts affecting at-sea and breeding habitat. One such species is the Ancient Murrelet, an Alcid species nesting on the Pacific Coast of Canada. Ancient Murrelets are an important species in Canadian waters as approximately 50 % of the world's breeding population nest in a small region of the British Columbia coast. Ancient Murrelets are listed as a species of Special Concern, due to threats in their breeding colonies; threats to their at-sea habitat, such as disturbance from shipping traffic, oil pollution, and fisheries bycatch, are currently poorly- documented due to the challenges associated with studying seabirds in their offshore environments. Conservation efforts to protect this species require information on movements and habitat use at sea. Therefore, there exists a critical need for research that provides new knowledge on where murrelets are travelling and the habitats in which they are foraging. The objective of this thesis research is to investigate movement behaviour and at-sea habitat of Ancient Murrelets during breeding season foraging trips. Movement modelling using hidden Markov models differentiated the tracks into behaviour states, and identified foraging locations at sea. Foraging locations were used in regression modelling to investigate the degree to which variability in Ancient Murrelet foraging locations could be explained by seafloor depth, slope and tidal current, and spatial measures such as distance from the breeding colony. From characteristics of movement paths, hidden Markov models identified three movement behaviour states, which were interpreted as transit, resting, and foraging behaviours. Logistic regression models suggested that depth, seafloor slope, tidal speed, and distance from the colony exhibited a negative influence on locations where birds chose to forage. Nevertheless, of the locations where foraging took place, foraging intensity was found to be higher in deeper areas suggesting Ancient Murrelets may be focusing efforts in areas of higher prey abundance. The combination of individual movement analysis and habitat analysis provides an important first step in gaining a greater understanding of Ancient Murrelet behaviour and foraging habitat at sea. These findings can inform marine management planning in this region and conservation of this vulnerable species.
Download or read book Ecology and Conservation of the Marbled Murrelet written by and published by . This book was released on 1995 with total page 592 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Hidden Markov Models for Time Series written by Walter Zucchini and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2017-12-19 with total page 370 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Hidden Markov Models for Time Series: An Introduction Using R, Second Edition illustrates the great flexibility of hidden Markov models (HMMs) as general-purpose models for time series data. The book provides a broad understanding of the models and their uses. After presenting the basic model formulation, the book covers estimation, forecasting, decoding, prediction, model selection, and Bayesian inference for HMMs. Through examples and applications, the authors describe how to extend and generalize the basic model so that it can be applied in a rich variety of situations. The book demonstrates how HMMs can be applied to a wide range of types of time series: continuous-valued, circular, multivariate, binary, bounded and unbounded counts, and categorical observations. It also discusses how to employ the freely available computing environment R to carry out the computations. Features Presents an accessible overview of HMMs Explores a variety of applications in ecology, finance, epidemiology, climatology, and sociology Includes numerous theoretical and programming exercises Provides most of the analysed data sets online New to the second edition A total of five chapters on extensions, including HMMs for longitudinal data, hidden semi-Markov models and models with continuous-valued state process New case studies on animal movement, rainfall occurrence and capture-recapture data
Download or read book Bayesian Networks written by Olivier Pourret and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2008-04-30 with total page 446 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bayesian Networks, the result of the convergence of artificial intelligence with statistics, are growing in popularity. Their versatility and modelling power is now employed across a variety of fields for the purposes of analysis, simulation, prediction and diagnosis. This book provides a general introduction to Bayesian networks, defining and illustrating the basic concepts with pedagogical examples and twenty real-life case studies drawn from a range of fields including medicine, computing, natural sciences and engineering. Designed to help analysts, engineers, scientists and professionals taking part in complex decision processes to successfully implement Bayesian networks, this book equips readers with proven methods to generate, calibrate, evaluate and validate Bayesian networks. The book: Provides the tools to overcome common practical challenges such as the treatment of missing input data, interaction with experts and decision makers, determination of the optimal granularity and size of the model. Highlights the strengths of Bayesian networks whilst also presenting a discussion of their limitations. Compares Bayesian networks with other modelling techniques such as neural networks, fuzzy logic and fault trees. Describes, for ease of comparison, the main features of the major Bayesian network software packages: Netica, Hugin, Elvira and Discoverer, from the point of view of the user. Offers a historical perspective on the subject and analyses future directions for research. Written by leading experts with practical experience of applying Bayesian networks in finance, banking, medicine, robotics, civil engineering, geology, geography, genetics, forensic science, ecology, and industry, the book has much to offer both practitioners and researchers involved in statistical analysis or modelling in any of these fields.
Download or read book Conservation Biology written by Fred Van Dyke and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2008-02-28 with total page 491 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fred Van Dyke’s new textbook, Conservation Biology: Foundations, Concepts, Applications, 2nd Edition, represents a major new text for anyone interested in conservation. Drawing on his vast experience, Van Dyke’s organizational clarity and readable style make this book an invaluable resource for students in conservation around the globe. Presenting key information and well-selected examples, this student-friendly volume carefully integrates the science of conservation biology with its implications for ethics, law, policy and economics.
Download or read book The Guano Islands of Peru written by Pan American Union and published by . This book was released on 1954 with total page 20 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Anagram Solver written by Bloomsbury Publishing and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2009-01-01 with total page 719 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Anagram Solver is the essential guide to cracking all types of quiz and crossword featuring anagrams. Containing over 200,000 words and phrases, Anagram Solver includes plural noun forms, palindromes, idioms, first names and all parts of speech. Anagrams are grouped by the number of letters they contain with the letters set out in alphabetical order so that once the letters of an anagram are arranged alphabetically, finding the solution is as easy as locating the word in a dictionary.
Download or read book Estimating Animal Abundance written by D.L. Borchers and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2002 with total page 332 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first accessible introduction to the many various wildlife assessment methods! This book uses a new approach that makes the full range of methods accessible in a way that has not previously been possible. Accompanied by free, user-friendly software to get some "hands-on" experience with the methods and how they perform in different contexts.
Download or read book Key Topics in Conservation Biology 2 written by David W. Macdonald and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2013-04-22 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Following the much acclaimed success of the first volume of Key Topics in Conservation Biology, this entirely new second volume addresses an innovative array of key topics in contemporary conservation biology. Written by an internationally renowned team of authors, Key Topics in Conservation Biology 2 adds to the still topical foundations laid in the first volume (published in 2007) by exploring a further 25 cutting-edge issues in modern biodiversity conservation, including controversial subjects such as setting conservation priorities, balancing the focus on species and ecosystems, and financial mechanisms to value biodiversity and pay for its conservation. Other chapters, setting the framework for conservation, address the sociology and philosophy of peoples’ relation with Nature and its impact on health, and such challenging practical issues as wildlife trade and conflict between people and carnivores. As a new development, this second volume of Key Topics includes chapters on major ecosystems, such as forests, islands and both fresh and marine waters, along with case studies of the conservation of major taxa: plants, butterflies, birds and mammals. A further selection of topics consider how to safeguard the future through monitoring, reserve planning, corridors and connectivity, together with approaches to reintroduction and re-wilding, along with managing wildlife disease. A final chapter, by the editors, synthesises thinking on the relationship between biodiversity conservation and human development. Each topic is explored by a team of top international experts, assembled to bring their own cross-cutting knowledge to a penetrating synthesis of the issues from both theoretical and practical perspectives. The interdisciplinary nature of biodiversity conservation is reflected throughout the book. Each essay examines the fundamental principles of the topic, the methodologies involved and, crucially, the human dimension. In this way, Key Topics in Conservation Biology 2, like its sister volume, Key Topics in Conservation Biology, embraces issues from cutting-edge ecological science to policy, environmental economics, governance, ethics, and the practical issues of implementation. Key Topics in Conservation Biology 2 will, like its sister volume, be a valuable resource in universities and colleges, government departments, and conservation agencies. It is aimed particularly at senior undergraduate and graduate students in conservation biology and wildlife management and wider ecological and environmental subjects, and those taking Masters degrees in any field relevant to conservation and the environment. Conservation practitioners, policy-makers, and the wider general public eager to understand more about important environmental issues will also find this book invaluable.
Download or read book Human Impacts on Seals Sea Lions and Sea Otters written by Todd J. Braje and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2011-03-23 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “The bones recovered from the middens of the northeastern Pacific shorelines have important stories to tell biologists, marine mammalogists, and those concerned with marine conservation. This volume unearths a wealth of information about the historical ecology of seals, sea lions, and sea otters in the North Pacific that spans thousands of years. It provides fascinating insights into how the world once looked, and how it may one day look again as seals, sea lions, and sea otters reclaim and recolonize their former haunts.”—Andrew Trites, Director, Marine Mammal Research Unit, University of British Columbia “Braje and Rick have assembled a compelling set of case studies on the long-term and complex interactions between people, marine mammals, and environments in the Northeast Pacific. The promise of zooarchaeology as historical science is on full display, as researchers use geochemistry, aDNA, morphometrics, and traditional analytic methods to address questions of utmost importance to the long-term health of coastal ecosystems. If this book doesn't convince conservation biology about the need to take the long view of animal histories and ecosystems into account in developing conservation management plans, I'm not sure what will.”—Virginia L. Butler, Department of Anthropology, Portland State University
Download or read book Latent Markov Models for Longitudinal Data written by Francesco Bartolucci and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2012-10-29 with total page 253 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Drawing on the authors' extensive research in the analysis of categorical longitudinal data, this book focuses on the formulation of latent Markov models and the practical use of these models. It demonstrates how to use the models in three types of analysis, with numerous examples illustrating how latent Markov models are used in economics, education, sociology, and other fields. The R and MATLAB routines used for the examples are available on the authors' website.
Download or read book Quantitative Analysis of Movement written by Peter Turchin and published by Sinauer Associates Incorporated. This book was released on 1998-01-01 with total page 396 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the last two decades it has become increasingly clear that the spatial dimension is a critically important aspect of ecological dynamics. Ecologists are currently investing an enormous amount of effort in quantifying movement patterns of organisms. Connecting these data to general issues in metapopulation biology and landscape ecology, as well as to applied questions in conservation and natural resource management, however, has proved to be a non-trivial task. This book presents a systematic exposition of quantitative methods for analyzing and modeling movements of organisms in the field. Quantitative Analysis of Movement is intended for graduate students and researchers interested in spatial ecology, including applications to conservation, pest control, and fisheries. Models are a key ingredient in the analytical approaches developed in the book; however, the primary focus is not on mathematical methods, but on connections between models and data. The methodological approaches discussed in the book will be useful to ecologists working with all taxonomic groups. Case studies have been selected from a wide variety of organisms, including plants (seed dispersal, spatial spread of clonal plants), insects, and vertebrates (primarily, fish, birds, and mammals).
Download or read book The Maryland Amphibian and Reptile Atlas written by Heather R. Cunningham and published by Johns Hopkins University Press. This book was released on 2018-11-26 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It will appeal to both amateurs and professionals interested in herpetology, natural history, or ecology, as well as those with a special interest in Maryland's biodiversity.
Download or read book Naturalized Parrots of the World written by Stephen Pruett-Jones and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2021-08-10 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The first book to look at naturalized parrots with a global perspective, with a wide range of chapters by 36 leading researchers"--
Download or read book The Estimation of Animal Abundance and Related Parameters written by George Arthur Frederick Seber and published by . This book was released on 2002 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Originally published in 1982, this reprint of the second edition of The Estimation of Animal Abundance and Related Parameters has been described as the "bible" of the field. Censuses of living populations are required for many purposes in wildlife management, fisheries and pest control and they are essential in policy making for the protection of the environment. In this book Professor Seber, one of the leading experts in the field, explains in detail the methods that have been developed by ecologists for estimating animal numbers and related parameters such as mortality and birth rates. He insists on the importance of experimental design and describes a great variety of statistical techniques that are required in analyzing the data obtained. These designs and techniques are classified for easy reference according to the particular types of problems encountered by the field worker and the kind of information that is available. The assumptions underlying practical methods in current use are fully examined, together with procedures for testing their validity. Each method is demonstrated by at least one worked example; in all there are over 90 such examples, mostly using data obtained from natural or free-ranging populations around the world. Ecologists will find this book - the first full-length treatment of its subject - a sound statistical assessment of methods which in the past were frequently developed on an intuitive basis; while applied mathematicians will benefit no less from a study of the interaction between mathematics and biology in this important branch of statistics. Field workers will be stimulated and helped by the real-life examples and the practical nature of the work. "George Seber's book became an instant classic following its publication in 1973. It dealt comprehensively with previously published research on methods for estimating abundance and demographic parameters of animal populations. Professor Seber provided detailed reviews of methods that were originally published with adequate statistical development, and he provided derivations and development for intuitive estimators that had been initially presented by ecologists. The second edition of the book was published in 1982 and included substantive additional coverage of "new" developments that had occurred since 1973. The 1982 book has become a citation classic and can be found on the bookshelf of every serious animal population ecologist and every biostatistician dealing with animal population data. For the 20 years since its publication, it has remained the only book of its kind. Many important methodological developments have occurred in animal estimation problems since 1982, but virtually all such methods represent extensions of the initial methods described by Seber (1982). Several excellent monographs and books have been written over the last 2 decades that deal in detail with particular subsets of the material in Seber (1982). What is remarkable is that these recent contributions have not superseded Seber's book, but are best viewed as supplements to his original comprehensive treatment. Thus, Seber's (1982) book can still be found on the bookshelf of every serious animal population ecologist and biostatistician. Now, in 2002, it is surrounded on the bookshelf by a handful of related books and monographs, but it has not lost its relevance or importance and remains the most detailed, comprehensive treatment of methods to estimate animal abundance and related parameters." Jim Nichols, Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Laurel, MD Professor Seber, Professor Emeritus at the University of Auckland, is regarded as the world's foremost authority on statistical methods for estimating the size of animal populations. His early work on capture-recapture methods was groundbreaking and the Jolly-Seber method still forms the basis of most modern work, more than 30 years after his first paper on the method in 1962.
Download or read book Time Series written by Peter Diggle and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 1990 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Time-series analysis is one of several branches of statistics whose practical importance has increased with the availability of powerful computing tools. Methodology originally developed for specialized applications, for example in business forecasting or geophysical signal processing, is now widely available in general statistical packages. These computing developments have helped to bring the subject closer to the mainstream of applied statistics. This book is an introductory account of time-series analysis, written from the perspective of an applied statitician with a particular interest in biological applications. Throughout, analyses of data-sets drawn from the biological and medical sciences are integrated with the methodological development. The book is unique in its emphasis on biological and medical applications of time-series analysis. Nevertheless, its methodological content is more widely applicable. It should be useful to both students and practitioners of applied statistics whatever their field of application, and to biologists whose work involves the analysis of time-series data. Book jacket.
Download or read book Seabird Islands written by Christa P. H. Mulder and published by OUP USA. This book was released on 2011-09-08 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Written collaboratively by and for ecologists and resource managers, SEABIRD ISLANDS provides the first large-scale cross-system compilation, comparison, and synthesis of the ecology of seabird island systems.
