How do plant ecologists use matrix models?

In the past three decades, the role of matrix-based demographic models in plant conservation has steadily increased. However, the reliability of these methods remains hotly debated. Most tests of model performance have relied on strict conditions for either the data sets being tested or the criteria used to judge accuracy of the results. This leads to a potential disconnect between the variety of ways in which models are used in practice and the limited set of conditions where their performance has been evaluated. As part of our working group, we set out to introduce and apply the idea that relevant tests depend on how exactly matrix models are used for managing populations. To this end, we systematically assessed 397 matrix models for plant populations to determine which population metrics (e.g. population growth rate, sensitivity, extinction risk) are being most commonly used in the literature and how literally authors are interpreting these metrics as predictions. The data sets available here contain both the citation information for all of the plant studies that we identified and the results of our review (see Crone et al., In Review, Ecology Letters). We have attempted to provide a nearly complete census of the available literature from 1966 through April 2009.