Differential responses to weather and land-cover conditions explain spatial variation in winter abundance trends in a migratory bird of conservation concern

Effective conservation strategies for animal populations require knowledge of relationships between population dynamics and their environmental drivers. However, these processes often vary within animal populations, requiring site-specific conservation planning. Given limited financial resources, identifying groups of sites with similar population dynamics can help practitioners efficiently implement conservation programs to larger areas. We evaluated spatial patterns and environmental drivers of wintering site trends in a migratory bird of conservation concern, the Greenland white-fronted goose (Anser albifrons flavirostris).
We used latent class analysis to identify trend patterns in 35 years of abundance data among 59 geographically discrete Greenland white-fronted goose wintering sites. We developed a state-space abundance model in a Bayesian framework to quantify the effects of weather and land-cover conditions experienced throughout spring migration, summer breeding, autumn migrat..., , , # Differential responses to weather and habitat conditions explain spatial variation in winter abundance trends in a migratory bird of conservation concern.

This repository contains the data and code used in the following publication:

Schindler, A. R., A. D. Fox, C. K. Wikle, B. M. Ballard, A. J. Walsh, S. B. A. Kelly, M. D. Weegman. (2024). *Journal of Applied Ecology*, 00, 1-12. [https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.14804](https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.14804). 

Data DOI: [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.6djh9w19m](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.6djh9w19m)\
Code DOI: [https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13126638](https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13126638)

All analyses were completed using R. See manuscript for details.

Please contact the corresponding author with questions about this data package or to seek potential collaborations using these data.

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### Description

Model code and associated data files to quantify geographic patterns of abundance trends among Greenland white-fronted ...