Workshop: RovQuant

Join our upcoming workshop to gain practical experience with the analytical models developed during project RovQuant. This hands-on training will introduce you to the rovquantR package, a tool designed to support robust and spatially-explicit population estimation of bears and wolverines.

Summary

Over the last eight years, project RovQuant has developed analytical methods to estimate population size and map the density of wolves, bears, and wolverines in Norway and Sweden. These methods are based on monitoring data, primarily genetic samples, collected by the authorities and the public. Population size estimates and density maps are now provided each year to large carnivore managers in both countries.

In this workshop, participants will be introduced to the fundamentals of the RovQuant models, namely the concepts behind the Open-Population Spatial Capture-Recapture (OPSCR) analysis. Participants will receive hands-on instructions on how to use a custom R package rovquantR, which offers an analytical pipeline for producing large carnivore population size estimates in Scandinavia.

This workshop will teach you how to use the tools developed by RovQuant. It will not teach statistics, Bayesian analysis, or how to build models.

Who is the workshop for?

This workshop is aimed at staff working for research institutes, management agencies, and research groups involved in large carnivore monitoring in Norway and Sweden. Target organizations have already been selected and will be approached directly. Invited organizations will choose their representatives, but we ask that individuals selected possess analytical experience and are likely to continue in an analytical capacity for the foreseeable future. The first workshop will focus on bears and wolverines. Wolves will be included in future workshops.

Recommended pre-requisites:

• Familiar/involved with large carnivore monitoring in Scandinavia
• Experience with R and RStudio
• Experience with data analysis and visualization. Knowledge of Bayesian analysis is a plus, but not required.
• Laptop with R and RStudio installed. Registered participants will be given additional instructions concerning required R packages and other preparations before the course.

Approach

• Mix of short lectures and practical exercises.
• Individual and group work
• Q&A; discussion

Main elements covered

• Basic concepts and assumptions of SCR and OPSCR models
• Large carnivore monitoring in Norway and Sweden in the context of population estimation
• Introduction to R package rovquantR
• Preparing large carnivore monitoring data for analysis
• Fitting OPSCR models to large carnivore monitoring data
• Summarizing, displaying, and interpreting the results from OPSCR analysis
• Sources and interpretation of uncertainty in population size estimates

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